Caterpillar shuts locked out plant in Canada

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TORONTO (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. said Friday it will close its Electro-Motive plant in Canada, where workers have been locked out since the start of the year.

A Caterpillar subsidiary, Progress Rail Services, said in a statement that the plant's cost structure wasn't sustainable and efforts to negotiate a new labor agreement failed.

Electro-Motive had demanded pay cuts of up to 50 percent when it locked out the 450 employees at the London, Ontario, plant on Jan. 1. The workers are represented by The Canadian Auto Workers.

Just two days ago, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty criticized Caterpillar, although not by name, saying the company wasn't living up to Ontarians expectations.

Locals feared Caterpillar always intended to move the locomotive manufacturing from Electro-Motive to a facility in the U.S.