Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Oops: Caterpillar lays off thousands after Porkulus passes

March 17, 2009
by Ed Morrissey
from Hot Air

Last month, Barack Obama challenged Congress to pass his stimulus package at a visit to the Caterpillar plant in East Peoria, Illinois, claiming that the company’s CEO assured him that it would allow Caterpillar to rehire laid-off workers. CEO Jim Owens disputed that, saying that the stimulus wouldn’t have enough effect, and that more layoffs would come regardless of whether Congress passed the bill. So who was right?
Caterpillar Inc, the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, notified an additional 2,454 workers in three states on Tuesday that they were losing their jobs as the company continues to try to bring production in line with plummeting demand.

And guess who got cut?

The bulk of the job cuts — nearly 1,600 in all — will come in Illinois at the company’s plants in East Peoria, which makes track-type tractors and pipe layers, and Aurora, where it makes hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders.

After the visit, Rep. Adam Schock, who represents East Peoria, claimed that exactly zero of the workers at the Caterpillar plant responded to Obama’s call to communicate their support for Porkulus. They apparently had more sense than President Obama.



Click to read the article

No comments:

Post a Comment