UAW Members Vote on Deere's 2-Year Contract Extension Worth $21,000 as Layoffs Persist
Updated
Updated · KWQC · Aug 21
UAW Members Vote on Deere's 2-Year Contract Extension Worth $21,000 as Layoffs Persist
3 articles · Updated · KWQC · Aug 21
Summary
Sunday’s vote will decide whether John Deere’s UAW workers extend their 2021 contract by two years instead of reopening full negotiations in 2027.
Deere says the proposal would add about $21,000 in wage increases and bonuses per average worker over two years and provide certainty while key Iowa and Quad Cities plants run at less than half their volume from the last talks.
The UAW has cast the move skeptically, saying Deere is trying to change a deal both sides already negotiated and signed, while declining a new interview request.
The vote lands as Deere lifted its net income outlook to roughly $5 billion despite hundreds of layoffs tied to the agricultural downturn.
If members reject the extension, Deere says bargaining resumes next year; the current contract followed a 34-day strike by about 10,000 workers in 2021, the company’s first major walkout in 30 years.