http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBR9AAM92E.htmlPEORIA, Ill. (AP) - Heavy equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. announced plans Thursday to retool an aging Peoria-area foundry, a move criticized by union leaders because it will shift more than 500 jobs to Mexico within four years. snip
Smaller parts now made in Mapleton would be moved to a foundry in Mexico that Caterpillar hopes to develop through a joint venture being negotiated with Grupo Industrial Saltillo, one of Mexico's leading manufacturing suppliers, Dunn said.
If the deal is approved early next year, work would be shifted to Mexico in 2007 or 2008, leaving about 200 workers in Mapleton, Dunn said. More than 700 hourly employees now work at the plant, about 10 miles southwest of Peoria, he said.
Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment, would reduce employment through attrition and transfers to other Peoria-area plants, and no full-time employees would be laid off, Dunn said.
"It doesn't matter how you spin it. It's more than 500 fewer jobs in the Peoria area," said Rick Doty, spokesman for Caterpillar's largest United Auto Workers local in East Peoria.
more