Deere & Co. workers on strike at 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas will vote Wednesday, November 17, on a third proposed contract, according to the United Auto Workers union. More than 10,000 UAW members have been on strike since October 14, following a decisive rejection of the first proposed agreement.
It is the first company-wide strike in 35 years for Deere, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment. Its operations include a large gray and ductile iron foundry in Waterloo, IA.
A second contract proposal was turned down on November 2.
The issues in the negotiation center on workers’ wage increases over the course of what is seen as a six-year term. The company’s second proposal included 10% wage increases in the first and fifth years; and 3% lump payments in the second, fourth, and sixth years, according to reports.
The company has not commented on the new proposal – though the union’s statement on the upcoming vote described it as Deere’s “last, best and final offer to the UAW negotiating team that includes modest modifications to the last (second) tentative agreement.”