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John Deere Workers Strike Over Contract
A striking worker stands as part of picket outside of the John Deere Davenport Works facility on October 15, 2021 in Davenport, Iowa. More than 10,000 John Deere employees, represented by the UAW, walked off the job after failing to agree to the terms of a new contract. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
If Joe Biden Doesn't Intervene to Stop Mass Layoffs at John Deere, Who Will?
The president should let Deere know that they can’t continue to receive taxpayer money if they ship taxpayer-funded jobs to Mexico.
Jun 12, 2024
The greed of the John Deere company is giving President Biden the perfect opportunity to win back working-class voters. All he needs to do is put up a major fight to stop Deere from shipping U.S. jobs to Mexico.
Really, the company should be renamed “Greed R Us.” Amid layoffs totaling approximately 1,000 U.S. workers in Illinois and Iowa, the company has posted $10 billion in profits in the 2023 fiscal year and paid its CEO $26.7 million.
But the real motivation for Deere to can workers and flee to Mexico is to finance $12.2 billion in stock buybacks. What are stock buybacks? A way to boost the price of the company’s shares—a blatant form of stock manipulation that was illegal until deregulated by the Reagan Administration.
Come on Joe, go to bat for these workers.
Stock buybacks are a quick and easy way to shovel corporate money straight into the pockets of the company's largest shareholders, mostly hedge funds and other Wall Street entities, and to the top officers who receive most of their compensation in stock incentives. When the company rushes into the market and buys back its shares—as listed below—ka ching! The stock price goes up and the biggest shareholders get richer and richer. But it takes a lot of U.S. layoffs to pay for these buybacks over the last two years alone:
- April 30, 2024: $1.1 billion
- January 31, 2024: $1.3 billion
- October 31, 2023: $2.6 billion
- July 31, 2023: $2.1 billion
- April 30, 2023: $1.3 billion
- January 31, 2023: $1.3 billion
- October 31, 2022: $1.2 billion
- July 31, 2022: $1.3 billion
- Total: $12.2 billion
It’s time for Biden to take a page from the Trump playbook. Trump stopped the Carrier Air Conditioning company from moving to Mexico in 2017. Polling shows that Trump’s effort was extremely popular. Even a third of those who voted for Hillary Clinton had a more favorable view of Trump after he pressured Carrier to keep 800 jobs in Indiana.
Why did Carrier give in? As its president said, “I was born at night but it wasn’t last night. I also know that about 10 percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. government.”
If they want to lay off workers, it must be voluntary. The company should offer pay and benefit packages so that workers agree to leave. Clearly, Deere has more than enough money, given what they're pumping out in stock buybacks.
John Deere also gets considerable revenue from Federal contracts. Its website boasts, “John Deere manufactures every kind of power generating, land moving, base building, grass cutting, people transporting equipment you can imagine through AFNAF, DLA and GSA contracts.”
Biden should let Deere know that they can’t continue to receive taxpayer money if they ship taxpayer-funded jobs to Mexico. He might even threaten to use the Defense Production Act to prevent the move. He should pressure them to accept a “no compulsory layoff” agreement. If they want to lay off workers, it must be voluntary. The company should offer pay and benefit packages so that workers agree to leave. Clearly, Deere has more than enough money, given what they're pumping out in stock buybacks.
Come on Joe, go to bat for these workers. Put the heat on John Deere and show the working class that you’re tougher than Trump when it comes to saving American jobs.
Your election and the future of our democracy may depend upon it.
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 |
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Les Leopold
Les Leopold is the executive director of the Labor Institute and author of the new book, “The Billionaires Have Two Parties, We Need a Party of Our Own” (2026). His previous books include: “Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed Are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It" (2024); "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice" (2015); and “The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi” (2007). Read more of his work on his substack here.
The greed of the John Deere company is giving President Biden the perfect opportunity to win back working-class voters. All he needs to do is put up a major fight to stop Deere from shipping U.S. jobs to Mexico.
Really, the company should be renamed “Greed R Us.” Amid layoffs totaling approximately 1,000 U.S. workers in Illinois and Iowa, the company has posted $10 billion in profits in the 2023 fiscal year and paid its CEO $26.7 million.
But the real motivation for Deere to can workers and flee to Mexico is to finance $12.2 billion in stock buybacks. What are stock buybacks? A way to boost the price of the company’s shares—a blatant form of stock manipulation that was illegal until deregulated by the Reagan Administration.
Come on Joe, go to bat for these workers.
Stock buybacks are a quick and easy way to shovel corporate money straight into the pockets of the company's largest shareholders, mostly hedge funds and other Wall Street entities, and to the top officers who receive most of their compensation in stock incentives. When the company rushes into the market and buys back its shares—as listed below—ka ching! The stock price goes up and the biggest shareholders get richer and richer. But it takes a lot of U.S. layoffs to pay for these buybacks over the last two years alone:
- April 30, 2024: $1.1 billion
- January 31, 2024: $1.3 billion
- October 31, 2023: $2.6 billion
- July 31, 2023: $2.1 billion
- April 30, 2023: $1.3 billion
- January 31, 2023: $1.3 billion
- October 31, 2022: $1.2 billion
- July 31, 2022: $1.3 billion
- Total: $12.2 billion
It’s time for Biden to take a page from the Trump playbook. Trump stopped the Carrier Air Conditioning company from moving to Mexico in 2017. Polling shows that Trump’s effort was extremely popular. Even a third of those who voted for Hillary Clinton had a more favorable view of Trump after he pressured Carrier to keep 800 jobs in Indiana.
Why did Carrier give in? As its president said, “I was born at night but it wasn’t last night. I also know that about 10 percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. government.”
If they want to lay off workers, it must be voluntary. The company should offer pay and benefit packages so that workers agree to leave. Clearly, Deere has more than enough money, given what they're pumping out in stock buybacks.
John Deere also gets considerable revenue from Federal contracts. Its website boasts, “John Deere manufactures every kind of power generating, land moving, base building, grass cutting, people transporting equipment you can imagine through AFNAF, DLA and GSA contracts.”
Biden should let Deere know that they can’t continue to receive taxpayer money if they ship taxpayer-funded jobs to Mexico. He might even threaten to use the Defense Production Act to prevent the move. He should pressure them to accept a “no compulsory layoff” agreement. If they want to lay off workers, it must be voluntary. The company should offer pay and benefit packages so that workers agree to leave. Clearly, Deere has more than enough money, given what they're pumping out in stock buybacks.
Come on Joe, go to bat for these workers. Put the heat on John Deere and show the working class that you’re tougher than Trump when it comes to saving American jobs.
Your election and the future of our democracy may depend upon it.
Les Leopold
Les Leopold is the executive director of the Labor Institute and author of the new book, “The Billionaires Have Two Parties, We Need a Party of Our Own” (2026). His previous books include: “Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed Are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It" (2024); "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice" (2015); and “The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi” (2007). Read more of his work on his substack here.
The greed of the John Deere company is giving President Biden the perfect opportunity to win back working-class voters. All he needs to do is put up a major fight to stop Deere from shipping U.S. jobs to Mexico.
Really, the company should be renamed “Greed R Us.” Amid layoffs totaling approximately 1,000 U.S. workers in Illinois and Iowa, the company has posted $10 billion in profits in the 2023 fiscal year and paid its CEO $26.7 million.
But the real motivation for Deere to can workers and flee to Mexico is to finance $12.2 billion in stock buybacks. What are stock buybacks? A way to boost the price of the company’s shares—a blatant form of stock manipulation that was illegal until deregulated by the Reagan Administration.
Come on Joe, go to bat for these workers.
Stock buybacks are a quick and easy way to shovel corporate money straight into the pockets of the company's largest shareholders, mostly hedge funds and other Wall Street entities, and to the top officers who receive most of their compensation in stock incentives. When the company rushes into the market and buys back its shares—as listed below—ka ching! The stock price goes up and the biggest shareholders get richer and richer. But it takes a lot of U.S. layoffs to pay for these buybacks over the last two years alone:
- April 30, 2024: $1.1 billion
- January 31, 2024: $1.3 billion
- October 31, 2023: $2.6 billion
- July 31, 2023: $2.1 billion
- April 30, 2023: $1.3 billion
- January 31, 2023: $1.3 billion
- October 31, 2022: $1.2 billion
- July 31, 2022: $1.3 billion
- Total: $12.2 billion
It’s time for Biden to take a page from the Trump playbook. Trump stopped the Carrier Air Conditioning company from moving to Mexico in 2017. Polling shows that Trump’s effort was extremely popular. Even a third of those who voted for Hillary Clinton had a more favorable view of Trump after he pressured Carrier to keep 800 jobs in Indiana.
Why did Carrier give in? As its president said, “I was born at night but it wasn’t last night. I also know that about 10 percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. government.”
If they want to lay off workers, it must be voluntary. The company should offer pay and benefit packages so that workers agree to leave. Clearly, Deere has more than enough money, given what they're pumping out in stock buybacks.
John Deere also gets considerable revenue from Federal contracts. Its website boasts, “John Deere manufactures every kind of power generating, land moving, base building, grass cutting, people transporting equipment you can imagine through AFNAF, DLA and GSA contracts.”
Biden should let Deere know that they can’t continue to receive taxpayer money if they ship taxpayer-funded jobs to Mexico. He might even threaten to use the Defense Production Act to prevent the move. He should pressure them to accept a “no compulsory layoff” agreement. If they want to lay off workers, it must be voluntary. The company should offer pay and benefit packages so that workers agree to leave. Clearly, Deere has more than enough money, given what they're pumping out in stock buybacks.
Come on Joe, go to bat for these workers. Put the heat on John Deere and show the working class that you’re tougher than Trump when it comes to saving American jobs.
Your election and the future of our democracy may depend upon it.
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