Deere Reportedly Offers UAW 2-Year Contract Extension Through 2029

Jul 09, 2026

According to news reports today from WQAD News 8, NEWS 7 KWWL, & others, John Deere has offered the United Auto Workers a 2-year extension of its current labor contract that expires next year (2027), and is seeking a decision by Aug. 31.

Eric Hodson reports that a July 6, 7:04 p.m. post on the UAW 450 Members Facebook page provided additional details as shared to their members. "Today, Local Union Presidents and Shop Chairpersons met with UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson. During that meeting, we were informed that John Deere has proposed extending our current collective bargaining agreement by an additional two years, moving the expiration date to October 31, 2029.

This proposal was initiated entirely by the company. It was not requested by the UAW, and it is not the result of contract negotiations.

Under the company’s proposal, the existing contract language would remain unchanged. All current wages, benefits, and contractual provisions would stay in place, with the following exceptions:

A 4% General Wage Increase (GWI) effective November 1, 2026
A 4% General Wage Increase (GWI) effective November 1, 2027
The scheduled lump-sum payment would move to November 1, 2028
Employees would receive a $3,000 ratification bonus if the proposal is approved

At this time, Vice President Dickerson is gathering additional information and addressing questions that have been raised."

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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