UAW goes on strike against John Deere

On Oct 14, 2021

The UAW had reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year contact with the company two weeks ago, only to see 90% of the rank-and-file members of the union reject it in a ratification vote that concluded this past Sunday. Union and management negotiators talked into the night Wednesday trying to reach a new deal but were unable to do so.

This is the nation’s largest private-sector strike since the UAW waged a costly six-week strike against General Motors (GM) two years ago. And it continues a recent trend of workers flexing more muscle as the dynamics of the labor market tip more toward them and away from employers. Businesses have been struggling to find the workers they need to fill a recent record number of job openings. There has also been a record high number of workers quitting jobs.

Last week, 1,400 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike against Kellogg, shutting plants where cereal brands such as Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Froot Loops, Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes are made.

And earlier Wednesday, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — which represents technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the entertainment industry — announced it had set a strike deadline for early Monday morning if they could not reach a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for 60,000 film and television workers. The union said that 98.6% of members had voted to authorize a strike if there is no new deal by then.

However, the US Labor Department reports that the number of strikes so far this year is actually down compared to the same period of 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic riled labor markets.

Overall wages are up, as it appears that employers — both unionized and nonunion — are more willing to give workers what they want to keep them on the job.

Good times at Deere

The strike at Deere & Co., the formal name of the company popularly known as John Deere, shuts operations at 11 factories in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, and three distribution centers in Georgia, Illinois and Colorado. The company makes both agricultural and construction equipment. Demand for its products has been strong.

The company said in August that it sees growing orders through the rest of this fiscal year that runs through November 1, and into the first fiscal quarter of next year.

The rejected contract for UAW members at John Deere would have given them immediate raises in their base pay of 5% to 6%, and additional wage increases later in the contract that could have increased average pay by about 20% over the six years of the rejected deal. It also eliminated a second lower tier of pay for some more recent hires of the company, bringing them up to the pay of other UAW members.

Kellogg's strike: 1,400 cereal factory workers hit picket lines

The average production worker at Deere made about $60,000 last year, and could end this contract earning about $72,000.

Among the features of the rejected contract was the return…