A strike at one of the nation’s largest equipment manufacturers will continue after employees rejected a deal reached over the weekend.
According to a brief statement from the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, workers at John Deere facilities voted 55% to 45% against a new contract Tuesday night. The deal would have covered employees at a dozen manufacturing facilities for six years.
According to a statement from John Deere, the tentative deal would have “provided an immediate 10% wage increase and 30% wage increases over the term of contract; health care with $0 premiums, $0 deductibles, $0 coinsurance; new paid parental leave, autism care, and other benefits; groundbreaking retirement benefits; and a ratification bonus of $8,500.”
Marc Howze, Deere’s chief administrative officer and group president for lifecycle solutions, said the deal would have invested “an additional $3.5 billion in our employees.”
“This investment was the right one for Deere, our employees, and everyone we serve together,” he said. “Even though it would have created greater competitive challenges within our industries, we had faith in our employees’ ability to sharpen our competitive edge. With the rejection of the agreement covering our Midwest facilities, we will execute the next phase of our Customer Service Continuation Plan.”
The vote represents the second tentative agreement rejected by John Deere union employees. The first vote came Oct. 14, which also launched the beginning of a strike by more than 10,000 employees across 14 facilities. Negotiators announced a second tentative deal over the weekend and now will resume negotiations.
John Deere also disclosed that employees at 12 production and maintenance facilities in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas had rejected the deal, but workers at parts facilities in Denver and Atlanta voted in favor of a separate agreement with the same terms.
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