Deere & Co. and the United Auto Workers union have a new tentative agreement that could resolved the nearly three-week strike of more than 10,000 workers at 12 John Deere locations in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. Included in those locations is John Deere’s gray and ductile iron foundry in Waterloo, IA.
UPDATE: A majority of UAW members voting rejected the updated proposed agreement on November 2. The nearly three-week-long strike will continue.
Full details of the proposed new agreement were not released publicly before workers are asked to vote on it, but according to reports the six-year deal would have granted 10% wage increases in the first and fifth years; 3% lump payments in the second, fourth, and sixth years. Reportedly, they also would draw an $8,500 bonus on ratification, and no changes in health-insurance coverage.
The strike that began October 14 is the first company-wide outage for Deere in 35 years.
Union members roundly rejected a proposed contract prior to that deadline date. The rejected contract would immediately have provided 5-6% raises for workers, followed by 3% raises in 2023 and 2025.