Deere workers reject labor deal, extend strike

Members of the United Auto Workers union rejected a deal with Deere & Co., extending a nearly three-week strike and illustrating the growing willingness of U.S. workers to hold out for better terms.

The second rejected deal offered improvements over one that workers turned down before going on strike, and included larger wage increases, no new tiers to retirement benefits and a signing bonus of $8,500.

“By a vote of 45% yes to 55% no, UAW John Deere members voted down the agreement this evening,” the union said late Tuesday.

The rejection of the agreement demonstrates workers’ increased leverage amid a national labor shortage and strong demand for farm equipment. The wage increase offered at 14 Deere facilities was larger than nearly a dozen other collective bargaining agreements the UAW has negotiated since 2018, according to Bloomberg Law’s database of labor contracts.

“Thirty five years ago, workers at Deere lost a lockout and took a deal that froze and reduced wages,” said University of Chicago historian Gabriel Winant. “Today they rejected an offer that starts with a 10% raise. It’s the biggest downward shift in the economic balance of power in my lifetime.”

Some 10,000 Deere employees went on strike Oct. 14 for the first time since 1986, having rejected a prior deal that called for a 5% to 6% wage increase for the first year. That’s about 14% of its global workforce as of November 2020.

Deere has kept its factories running through the strike, using salaried employees. The company said the focus has been operating parts depots and its parts distribution center to ensure farmers can complete their harvest season.

Production and maintenance employees at 12 plants in Illinois, Iowa and Iowa rejected the agreement, while workers at two parts facilities in Georgia and Colorado approved a separate identical agreement, the Moline, Illinois-based company said in a statement.