Showdown On Labor’s Front Line

IT IS BILLED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT SHOWDOWN between management and labor in this country since Ronald Reagan crippled the air-traffic-controll ers union 11 years ago. But the situation in Peoria, Ill., involving the leadership of Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers is really all about pain.

At issue are the jobs of 13,000 striking workers caught in the middle of a fight between the 900,000-member U.A.W. and Caterpillar, the world’s largest construction-machinery manufacturer. Many strikers have been out of work for five months and are having a hard time supporting their families on benefits of $100 a week. But when Caterpillar chairman Donald Fites warned them to return to work last Monday or lose their jobs to permanent replacements, all but about 400 obeyed the union call to disregard the company ultimatum. The company began advertising in area newspapers last Monday for new applicants. A special Caterpillar telephone number installed to handle requests about job information received 56,000 attempted calls in one three-hour period.

The fight revolves around union demands that Caterpillar match the terms offered U.A.W. members by Deere & Co., the Illinois farm-equipment manufacturer, including higher wages and broader health benefits. Caterpillar says it cannot afford to grant those terms because of the brutal competition it faces from abroad.

A U.A.W. loss would erode its future bargaining power. A Caterpillar loss would reduce its profit margin against foreign competition. Either way, it’s difficult to imagine a happy ending to this story.