Deere, UAW Reach Tentative Pact; strike continues for the time being

The agricultural machinery manufacturer Deere & Co. reached a preliminary employment agreement with the United Auto Workers union on Saturday.

But a UAW strike that began on Oct. 14 will continue — and details of the proposed contract will not be released — as workers study the terms of the deal ahead of a vote.

The pact would involve more than 10,000 manufacturing and maintenance workers at 12 Deere locations in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas.

The strike began after UAW workers overwhelmingly rejected an initially proposed contract that would have immediately yielded 5% pay increases for some workers and 6% for others, depending on their position at Deere plants. The pact also called for 3% increases in 2023 and 2025.

After the first deal was rejected, “UAW negotiators focused on improving the concerns identified by our members,” said Chuck Browning, director of the union’s agricultural machinery division.

The unexpectedly strong recovery of the US economy from last year’s brief but intense recession has led to labor shortages – and gave workers more power to demand higher wages and better benefits.

The contract talks come as strong sales this year helped Moline, Illinois-based Deere report net income of $4.7 billion for the first nine months of the fiscal year, more than double the $2 billion it reported. it reported a year ago.

The company expects to earn more than $5.7 billion this fiscal year.