The workers are on strike after a contract between the company and the union fell through.
Today, over 10,000 workers for Deere & Co., backed by the United Auto Workers union, have gone on strike. According to union representatives, the company was supposed to pen a new deal with them and the workers that would include substantial raises. Unfortunately, no deal was reached by midnight, prompting the workers to walk off.
“The almost one million UAW retirees and active members who stand in solidarity with the striking UAW members at John Deere,” UAW President Ray Curry said.
It’s been several decades since there were any strikes at Deere & Co., though workers have begun demanding better treatment in the face of harsher pandemic-era working conditions, as well as the general shortage of workers the pandemic has brought about.
“Our members at John Deere strike for the ability to earn a decent living, retire with dignity and establish fair work rules,” said Chuck Browning, vice president and director of the UAW’s Agricultural Implement Department. “We stay committed to bargaining until our members’ goals are achieved.”
“The whole nation’s going to be watching us,” Chris Laursen, a Deere & Co. worker, told a local newspaper. “If we take a stand here for ourselves, our families, for basic human prosperity, it’s going to make a difference for the whole manufacturing industry. Let’s do it. Let’s not be intimidated.”
