A United Auto Workers work stoppage at Caterpillar Inc. is possible March 1, hours after the previous contract expires — the same day the UAW international runoff-election vote count starts — possibly resulting in more leadership changes. Affected are some 6,000 members of four UAW Locals in greater Peoria, Decatur, Pontiac and York, Pa.

Days after main bargaining started Jan. 23, a reported 98% of Peoria’s 3,600 Local 974 members casting ballots voted to authorize a strike, giving union leaders the power to call a strike.

“It sounds like part of what’s behind the strike push is the big [10% raise] at Deere,” said labor journalist Jonah Furman. “Deere workers were already better off than those at Caterpillar in the first place, meaning expectations may be high for improvements at Cat, and the notoriously anti-union company may likewise be looking to make a stand.”

Teamsters go on strike at ADM in Decatur. Members of Teamsters Local 916 at Archer Daniels Midlands (ADM), one of the top 10 largest food companies in the world, have gone on strike at the company’s Decatur location. The workers are responsible for overseeing the co-generation plant that provides energy for the facility.

“This company is one of the oldest and largest food conglomerates in the world,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region Vice President and Food Processing Division Director. “It made more than $100 billion in the revenue last year, a 20% increase from the year prior. This isn’t about money to ADM, it’s about power. Well, guess what — the Teamsters have power, too, and we plan on using it to get a good contract for these workers.”

Supreme Court could kill Americans’ right to strike. A Washington state case involving striking concrete truck drivers has an employer suing the Teamsters for damaging their business during a 2017 strike, and the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court decision could eliminate a decades-old rule protecting unions from lawsuits when workers exercise their federally protected right to strike.

The high court has heard arguments in Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and organized labor is anxious. “For nearly a century, federal law has protected workers’ right to strike,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The Washington Supreme Court correctly held that the National Labor Relations Board should determine whether the strike was protected, not the state courts. It is crucial to the livelihoods of America’s workers that the U.S. Supreme Court affirm the lower court’s decision.”

Workers, leaders get OK for Mother Jones statue in Chicago. Hell-raising organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones is returning to the Illinois city where she launched her decades-long crusade for working people, Chicago, as a committee of unions and civic leader got approval for a statue of her in the park across he street from Water Tower Place.

“We’ve been waiting to announce this officially for too long,” exulted the leaders of the drive on Jan. 30. “There have some negotiations and some wrinkles. But we did it.”

New GOP House targets include its union. After the chaos within Republicans’ slim House majority about the next Speaker, proposed changes from the GOP include killing the Congressional Workers Union.

Republicans’ rules package states the party’s intention to “eliminate Democrats’ creation of House staff labor unions.”

The Congressional Workers Union fired back, tweeting: “We organized and unionized offices in the 117th Congress, and we’re going not to stop in the 118th Congress. When we fight, we win, and we’re ready to take on any anti-worker battles that may come our way.”

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