Striking Deere workers vote on 3rd contract
MOLINE, Ill. — More than 10,000 striking Deere & Co. workers voted Wednesday on a new contract offer from the tractor maker, but the third deal is strikingly similar to a contract that 55% of workers rejected two weeks ago.
The latest proposed contract maintains the 10% immediate raises that the last deal offered, and it makes what the United Auto Workers union called modest changes to the details of Deere’s internal incentive pay program for workers.
After the last vote Nov. 2, Deere officials told the union not to expect the company to offer any more money, and Deere largely stuck to that promise in this latest offer.
In addition to the initial raises, this week’s offer keeps the 5% raises that were in the third and fifth years of the six-year deal and 3% lump sum payments in the second, fourth and sixth years of the deal. The offer would also provide an $8,500 ratification bonus, preserve a pension option for new employees, make workers eligible for health insurance sooner and maintain their no-premium health insurance coverage.
The contract covers 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas where the company’s iconic green John Deere agricultural and construction equipment is made.
What Moline, Illinois-based Deere did in this latest offer, which it is calling its final one, was tweak the formula it uses to determine which workers receive bonuses based on whether their team hits certain productivity goals. The changes in the formula could make it easier for workers to qualify for the incentive pay, but there are some Deere workers who aren’t eligible for the bonuses based on the job they do in the company’s factories and warehouses.
The workers who went on strike Oct. 14 have been holding out for more from Deere, which has predicted it will report record annual profits of $5.7 billion to $5.9 billion when it releases its earnings report later this month. Initially, more than 90% of the workers rejected Deere’s initial offer, but the second vote was much closer after the company essentially doubled the raises it was offering.