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Caterpillar said on its website another bargaining session was scheduled for May 30 after last week’s meeting in Milwaukee.
Union sub-district director Ross Winklbauer told Dow Jones: “The tone of the meeting was a lot better than the last time we met.
“We bounced some ideas back and forth. We were carrying on a good discussion.”
The talks between the two parties came last Thursday after a breakdown in negotiations earlier this month.
The now-expired union contract was in effect through April 30, but the workers rejected an offer from the OEM in early May that would have frozen wages for workers and created a lower second-tier pay level for new employees.
The USW represents about 800 Cat workers at its South Milwaukee shovel and dragline plant, all of whom have continued to report for work under that contract’s terms.
The Wisconsin operation was taken over by Cat following its 2010 Bucyrus acquisition.
A Caterpillar spokesman said at the time of the breakdown that the last offer it presented was competitive and told Reuters it was “open to listening” to union workers despite no immediate plans to return to negotiations.
However, the official also said concessions were necessary because of the slump in global mining industry sales.
