Fifty-five percent of more than 10,000 UAW members at 12 John Deere plants in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas have voted to reject the company's latest contract offer, meaning the strike that started October 14 will continue.
Deere had upped its offer from the last time, when it was rejected by 90 percent of workers.
The Chicago Tribune reports the latest offer would have given the workers 10-percent raises and also would have provided an $8,500 ratification bonus, preserved a pension option for new employees, made workers eligible for health insurance sooner, and maintained their no-premium health insurance coverage.
Employees would have received wages between $22.13 an hour and $33.05 an hour under the latest rejected contract, depending on their position.
Sales have been strong at the Moline, Illinois-based company this year as the economy continued to recover from the pandemic. Deere has predicted it will report record profits this year between $5.7 billion and $5.9 billion.
Source: Chicago Tribune
