This is another day of anxiety in the Peoria area. Caterpillar is telling more workers they are out of a job.
About 21-hundred Cat production employees from East Peoria, Decatur and Aurora are being told they have permanently lost their jobs. The numbers break down like this; the Aurora Plant will lose 500 positions, Decatur, more than one thousand and in East Peoria, 584 production employees are being laid off. Those layoffs would begin on April 13th.
Caterpillar Spokesman Jim Dugan says this announcement is in addition to the five thousand layoffs and separations announced on Monday. Of those five thousand, 416 employees are out of a job Friday. that includes 174 support and management employees from East Peoria are losing their jobs.
"It's difficult, we understand these decisions are difficult and effect our employees, their families and the communities where we have businesses. But we also know from our experience that if we have to make these difficult decisions today, we do that so that in the long run we can remain successful and strong," said Jim Dugan.
Also Friday, 800 Mossville plant workers who learned in December they were being laid off in February, were actually told Friday they were done. They will be paid for the next month, but do not have to report to work.
UAW representatives say they cannot comment at this time because they have not received official word from the company.
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