Looks that way. Since takin' over the locomotive builder... Caterpillar/Progress Rail has attempted ta 'control' costs by shutting out the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), the union representing workers at the old London, Ontario plant.

In their latest anti-union move, CAT says it'll move outa Canada and to a new plant in jobs starved Indiana. Indiana just happens ta be a 'right to work' state, which means unions are an option...

Canada Scowls, Indiana Cheers Over Caterpillar Moves

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Caterpillar has caused an uproar in Canada with a controversial plant closing. But the company attracted so many people to an Indiana jobs fair that the event had to be shut down earlier than planned.

On Friday, Caterpillars Progress Rail Services said it was closing the 62-year-old Electro-Motive Canada plant in London, Ontario, about two hours west of Toronto.

The plant, acquired by Caterpillar last year, has been the subject of a union lock out since New Years, after the Canadian Auto Workers union rejected a proposal for a 50 percent cut in wages, and reduced benefits.

The president of the CAW, Ken Lewenza, said he had received assurances from Caterpillar, which earned $4.9 billion in 2011, that the plant would not be closed. He told the Globe and Mail in Toronto the company was immoral, unethical, disrespectful.

The union is scheduled to meet with the company on Tuesday to discuss a severance package. According to Bloomberg, Lewenza said workers could occupy the plant if they arent satisfied with the shutdown procedures.

In explaining the shutdown, Billy Ainsworth, the CEO of Progress Rail, said in a letter to employees that all the companys facilities must achieve competitive costs, quality and operating flexibility to compete and win in the global marketplace, and expectations at the London plant were no different.

Its the second big closing in that part of Canada in a years time. Navistar shut its truck plant in nearby Chatham, Ontario in 2010, eliminating 1,100 jobs.

But at the moment, Caterpillar is the toast of Muncie, in east central Indiana.

Over the weekend, Caterpillar held a jobs fair that attracted about 3,000 applicants for jobs paying between $12.50 and $18 an hour, according to the Muncie Free Press.

Some of those job-seekers showed up at 4 a.m., even though the doors didnt open until five hours later. The fair was supposed to run most of the day, but closed at noon, with applicants directed to Caterpillars Web site.

Caterpillar recently spent $50 million to open a locomotive plant in Muncie, believed to be the first locomotive plant in the United States in years.

The interest is no surprise. Caterpillar, which is based in Peoria, Illinois, is a big player in the industrial Midwest, and its one of the companies that our Changing Gears project has reported about.

Caterpillar is ramping up in Indiana just as the state is implementing its new Right to Work law, signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels last week. The law prevents unions from charging mandatory dues, even if they represent a workforce.