The vote is set for Wednesday
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
About 10,000 John Deere employees will vote on a new company contract offer this week.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) confirmed on Nov. 12 that it received a new offer from John Deere on Nov. 2.
“John Deere and Company has made a last, best and final offer to the UAW negotiating team that includes modest modifications to the last tentative agreement presented for ratification…,” the union said in a Nov. 12 statement.
Workers could vote Wednesday. UAW Locals 74 (Ottumwa, Iowa) and 838 (Waterloo, Iowa) have identified Nov. 17 the vote day on their respective Facebook pages.
John Deere made its latest offer public over the weekend.
“While there has been a great deal of media attention surrounding this vote and the ongoing strike, I felt it was important to share the details of John Deere’s offer directly with you,” Rebecca Guinn, factory manager at John Deere Waterloo Works, wrote in a letter, the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reported.
The new contract includes cost-of-living adjustments every three months, an immediate 10 percent increase in wages and projected wage increases of 30 percent over the term of the contract and new cash balance savings to provide workers with more retirement income and flexibility.
This vote will be the third between the company and the union.
Employees voted down the first deal on Oct. 10 and have been on strike since Oct. 14.
The two sides reached a second tentative agreement on Oct. 30, which the union rejected on Nov. 2.