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Statement by William B. Gould IV, Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, on the Caterpillar-UAW Settlement

24 March 1998

Statement by William B. Gould IV, Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, on the Caterpillar-UAW Settlement

    WASHINGTON, March 23 -- The following is a statement by
William B. Gould IV, Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, on the
Caterpillar-UAW Settlement:

    "I am pleased with the resolution of the difficult and protracted labor
dispute between Caterpillar and the United Auto Workers.  The parties and the
employees covered by the settlement are to be commended for finally resolving
their differences and bringing closure to a difficult chapter in their
collective bargaining relationship.
    "For this agency, the Caterpillar litigation has been a huge undertaking,
especially in view of the limited budgetary and staffing resources under which
we have had to operate.  All told, the agency processed 443 different
Caterpillar cases to various stages of litigation.  Our Peoria, Illinois
Regional Office staff, under the leadership of Glenn Zipp, deserves special
recognition for their outstanding efforts in this dispute.
    "While the Caterpillar dispute placed a considerable drain on the agency's
resources, such cases are necessarily part of the statutory terrain occupied
by the National Labor Relations Act or, indeed, any legal framework which
establishes the procedural guidelines for the behavior of labor and
management.
    "Notwithstanding the pain and hardships suffered by the parties to this
protracted dispute, the ultimate settlement represents a victory for
collective bargaining.  The risk attendant to all litigation is that one party
will win everything and another lose everything.  Settlements always are
preferable to litigation because they denote compromise and resolution of
differences by the parties best equipped to handle them.
    "I commend the parties for resolving this matter and our dedicated NLRB
staff who facilitated this process.  It is now up to both sides to carry
forward with the commitment made this weekend to give collective bargaining
another chance to work."

SOURCE  National Labor Relations Board