Caterpillar Inc said a Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) labour contract that expires Saturday at midnight will not be extended despite the union's request for two more months of talks and a mediator. Caterpillar's Electro-Motive Canada subsidiary has been negotiating a new labour contract for locomotive production workers at a plant in London, Ontario with the CAW for several months, but the parties have run into a road block over terms.
On Friday, union members authorised a strike against Caterpillar's operation if the company imposes unilateral changes. In a statement emailed to Reuters, Caterpillar's subsidiary said it received a request for a two-month contract extension from the CAW in order to make time for mediation. Caterpillar said it already granted a six-month extenuation earlier in 2011 and "does not see the value of any further extension."