Striking workers at a Caterpillar hydraulic parts factory in Joliet, Ill., voted today to ratify a proposed six-year contract, ending a nearly 16-week strike.

The 800 workers, members of Machinists (IAM) Local 851, will receive a $3,100 ratification bonus, well above the $1,000 Caterpillar initially offered. Workers hired after 2005 will receive an automatic 3 percent raise annually for the life of the contract.

Machinists (IAM) District 8 in Joliet, Ill., and Caterpillar Inc. reached a tentative contract agreement late Tuesday and members are now voting on whether to ratify it. Workers have been on strike against the heavy equipment maker since May 1.

The proposed six-year contract contains many improvements over previous offers, said District 8 Business Representative Steve Jones.

Workers at Palermo's Pizza in Milwaukee, Wis., have been on strike for nearly two months in a struggle for justice with one of the largest frozen pizza manufacturers in the nation. You can help the workers—like Laura Torres, a single mother of six who has worked at the Palermo's plant for 10 years—by asking Costco, Palermo’s biggest customer, to urge the pizza maker to respect workers and improve working conditions at the plant.

On Wednesday, we asked you to tell us what you think about Caterpillar, which made $4.9 billion in profits last year, demanding the nearly 800 workers accept a six-year wage freeze, doubled health care premiums and cuts to pensions. The workers, members of Machinists (IAM) Local 851, said “NO!” and have been on strike for more than three months. On the blog and through Facebook some 200 of our readers left comments. Here’s a sample of what you told us:

Braving record heat and dangerous midwestern summer thunderstorms, groups of 15 members from the Machinists (IAM) Local 851 take four-hour shifts every day picketing the gates of the Caterpillar factory in Joliet, Ill. This is their 12th week on strike after Caterpillar, which made $4.9 billion in profits last year, demanded the nearly 800 workers accept a six-year wage freeze, doubled health care premiums and cuts to pensions. What do you think about Caterpillar making record profits and demanding its workers take a six-year pay freeze?

New York’s Consolidated Edison Power Co. made $1 billion in 2011 profits and its CEO Kevin Burke raked in a nearly 40 percent pay hike over the past several years, making it “hypocritical and inhumane for Con Ed to propose cuts in employee health care and retirement benefits,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Con Ed locked out some 8,500 workers after contract negotiations stalled July 1. The power company wants to replace pensions with a 401(k)-type savings plan. After locking out the workers, members of Utility Workers UWUA Local 1-2, Burke cut off health care for all of them.

Some 8,500 workers locked out at Consolidated Edison Power Co. after contract negotiations stalled Sunday, say they hope the company's promise to go back to the bargaining table on Thursday means management is serious about bargaining a fair contract. The power company wants to replace pensions with a 401(k)-type savings plan, according to the New York Post, and the workers, meanwhile, are asking for a 4 percent pay hike, said union spokesman John Melia.

Palermo’s Pizza workers in Milwaukee are marking one month on strike with two events this week. Today, they made a "special delivery" to Palermo's Pizza headquarters: pizza boxes stuffed with petitions. 

All trade unions in India united around a common agenda and staged a general strike Tuesday demanding workers’ rights and economic justice.The Indian newspaper The Hindu reports that the solidarity of the more than 5,000 unions representing millions of members affiliated to India’s trade confederations centers around demands, which seek:

Today in Lawrence, Mass., union members and their allies will gather at a historic mill building for a re-enactment of the historic Bread and Roses strike that moved the conscience of the nation, bringing national attention to the plight of the families, including young children, who toiled in the dirty and dangerous factories of Lawrence and throughout the country.