SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A striking worker pickets outside of the John Deere Davenport Works facility on October 15, 2021 in Davenport, Iowa. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
'Sacrifice and Solidarity' Pay Off as Striking John Deere Workers Win Bigger Wage Hike
"Our members' courageous willingness to strike in order to attain a better standard of living and a more secure retirement resulted in a groundbreaking contract."
Nov 18, 2021
Factory workers at John Deere officially ended their historic month-long strike late Wednesday by approving a six-year contract that includes an immediate 10% wage increase, reinstatement of a cost-of-living adjustment, and an $8,500 ratification bonus--provisions the United Auto Workers hailed as a major victory.
"They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today."
"Our members' courageous willingness to strike in order to attain a better standard of living and a more secure retirement resulted in a groundbreaking contract and sets a new standard for workers not only within the UAW but throughout the country," said Chuck Browning, vice president of the UAW, which represents the 10,000 employees who walked off the job last month to demand fair pay and benefits.
"The sacrifice and solidarity displayed by our John Deere members combined with the determination of their negotiators made this accomplishment possible," Browning added. "They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today and they have earned the admiration and respect of all that strive for what is just and equitable in the workplace."
The deal came after striking Deere workers--part of a broader upsurge in labor actions nationwide--rejected two previous contract offers as inadequate, particularly as company profits soared to record highs amid the pandemic and as CEO John May's overall pay jumped to $15.6 million in 2020.
"When you factor in the pandemic, being deemed essential workers, and in our case, having a company turning a record profit, the CEO giving himself a 160% raise, and giving a 17% dividend raise, we kinda feel like we're left to kick rocks," a striking UAW member told Labor Notes last month.
As union researcher and organizer Colleen Boyle recently noted, John Deere "could have paid each of its 69,600 worldwide employees an additional $142,000" with the money it handed to shareholders between fiscal year 2016 and the first nine months of fiscal year 2021.
According to UAW leadership, which angered rank-and-file members by endorsing an earlier tentative contract offer from management, the new contract contains "an $8,500 signing bonus; 20% increase in wages over the lifetime of the contract with 10% this year; return of cost-of-living adjustments; three 3% lump sum payments; enhanced options for retirement and enhanced [Continuous Improvement Pay Plan] performance benefits."
" Healthcare remains the same for the life of the agreement," added the union, which said Deere members ratified the deal by a vote of 61% to 39%.
HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson argued that while "plenty of Deere workers still wanted to hold out for better," the new contract "seems leagues better" than the original Deere-UAW deal that led to the strike.
"That initial agreement, which included immediate raises of just 5% or 6%, was rejected by 90% of the membership in early October," Jamieson noted.
UAW Region 4 Director Ron McInroy said in a statement late Wednesday that "our members stood together and did not waiver."
"Members and their families put a lot on the line for these gains and the community support was overwhelming," said McInroy. "I'd like to thank the John Deere members, their families, their leaders, and our bargaining team for standing firm and achieving these important gains."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Factory workers at John Deere officially ended their historic month-long strike late Wednesday by approving a six-year contract that includes an immediate 10% wage increase, reinstatement of a cost-of-living adjustment, and an $8,500 ratification bonus--provisions the United Auto Workers hailed as a major victory.
"They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today."
"Our members' courageous willingness to strike in order to attain a better standard of living and a more secure retirement resulted in a groundbreaking contract and sets a new standard for workers not only within the UAW but throughout the country," said Chuck Browning, vice president of the UAW, which represents the 10,000 employees who walked off the job last month to demand fair pay and benefits.
"The sacrifice and solidarity displayed by our John Deere members combined with the determination of their negotiators made this accomplishment possible," Browning added. "They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today and they have earned the admiration and respect of all that strive for what is just and equitable in the workplace."
The deal came after striking Deere workers--part of a broader upsurge in labor actions nationwide--rejected two previous contract offers as inadequate, particularly as company profits soared to record highs amid the pandemic and as CEO John May's overall pay jumped to $15.6 million in 2020.
"When you factor in the pandemic, being deemed essential workers, and in our case, having a company turning a record profit, the CEO giving himself a 160% raise, and giving a 17% dividend raise, we kinda feel like we're left to kick rocks," a striking UAW member told Labor Notes last month.
As union researcher and organizer Colleen Boyle recently noted, John Deere "could have paid each of its 69,600 worldwide employees an additional $142,000" with the money it handed to shareholders between fiscal year 2016 and the first nine months of fiscal year 2021.
According to UAW leadership, which angered rank-and-file members by endorsing an earlier tentative contract offer from management, the new contract contains "an $8,500 signing bonus; 20% increase in wages over the lifetime of the contract with 10% this year; return of cost-of-living adjustments; three 3% lump sum payments; enhanced options for retirement and enhanced [Continuous Improvement Pay Plan] performance benefits."
" Healthcare remains the same for the life of the agreement," added the union, which said Deere members ratified the deal by a vote of 61% to 39%.
HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson argued that while "plenty of Deere workers still wanted to hold out for better," the new contract "seems leagues better" than the original Deere-UAW deal that led to the strike.
"That initial agreement, which included immediate raises of just 5% or 6%, was rejected by 90% of the membership in early October," Jamieson noted.
UAW Region 4 Director Ron McInroy said in a statement late Wednesday that "our members stood together and did not waiver."
"Members and their families put a lot on the line for these gains and the community support was overwhelming," said McInroy. "I'd like to thank the John Deere members, their families, their leaders, and our bargaining team for standing firm and achieving these important gains."
Factory workers at John Deere officially ended their historic month-long strike late Wednesday by approving a six-year contract that includes an immediate 10% wage increase, reinstatement of a cost-of-living adjustment, and an $8,500 ratification bonus--provisions the United Auto Workers hailed as a major victory.
"They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today."
"Our members' courageous willingness to strike in order to attain a better standard of living and a more secure retirement resulted in a groundbreaking contract and sets a new standard for workers not only within the UAW but throughout the country," said Chuck Browning, vice president of the UAW, which represents the 10,000 employees who walked off the job last month to demand fair pay and benefits.
"The sacrifice and solidarity displayed by our John Deere members combined with the determination of their negotiators made this accomplishment possible," Browning added. "They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today and they have earned the admiration and respect of all that strive for what is just and equitable in the workplace."
The deal came after striking Deere workers--part of a broader upsurge in labor actions nationwide--rejected two previous contract offers as inadequate, particularly as company profits soared to record highs amid the pandemic and as CEO John May's overall pay jumped to $15.6 million in 2020.
"When you factor in the pandemic, being deemed essential workers, and in our case, having a company turning a record profit, the CEO giving himself a 160% raise, and giving a 17% dividend raise, we kinda feel like we're left to kick rocks," a striking UAW member told Labor Notes last month.
As union researcher and organizer Colleen Boyle recently noted, John Deere "could have paid each of its 69,600 worldwide employees an additional $142,000" with the money it handed to shareholders between fiscal year 2016 and the first nine months of fiscal year 2021.
According to UAW leadership, which angered rank-and-file members by endorsing an earlier tentative contract offer from management, the new contract contains "an $8,500 signing bonus; 20% increase in wages over the lifetime of the contract with 10% this year; return of cost-of-living adjustments; three 3% lump sum payments; enhanced options for retirement and enhanced [Continuous Improvement Pay Plan] performance benefits."
" Healthcare remains the same for the life of the agreement," added the union, which said Deere members ratified the deal by a vote of 61% to 39%.
HuffPost labor reporter Dave Jamieson argued that while "plenty of Deere workers still wanted to hold out for better," the new contract "seems leagues better" than the original Deere-UAW deal that led to the strike.
"That initial agreement, which included immediate raises of just 5% or 6%, was rejected by 90% of the membership in early October," Jamieson noted.
UAW Region 4 Director Ron McInroy said in a statement late Wednesday that "our members stood together and did not waiver."
"Members and their families put a lot on the line for these gains and the community support was overwhelming," said McInroy. "I'd like to thank the John Deere members, their families, their leaders, and our bargaining team for standing firm and achieving these important gains."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.