"Over 10,000 John Deere workers strike over ‘years’ of poor treatment", 14 October 2021

More than 10,000 production and warehouse workers at 14 John Deere plants in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia walked off the job at midnight on 14 October...

The workers, represented by nine locals with the United Auto Workers (UAW), voted 99% in favor of a strike authorization in September after receiving the initial six-year contract proposal from John Deere...

On 10 October, workers voted overwhelmingly by 90% to reject the tentative contract agreement offered by John Deere, with a strike deadline set for 11.59pm CT on Wednesday, 13 October.

David Schmelzer, a quality control inspector at John Deere in Milan, Illinois for 24 years and former chairman of UAW Local 79, explained in 1997 workers took several concessions from John Deere in contract negotiations at the time, which included creating a two-tier system of employees, with workers hired after 1997 receiving fewer benefits...

During the pandemic, Schmelzer said workers have been forced to work overtime consistently, with 10- to 12-hour days through the week and Saturdays.

Through that time, John Deere has reported record profits in 2021...

[A] worker cited proposed cuts to post-retirement healthcare, inadequate wage increases and inadequate pension benefits that don’t nearly match what pre-1997 John Deere employees receive as reasons why workers overwhelmingly voted against the latest proposed contract. For new hires, the retirement pension plans would be replaced by a 401k.

A spokesperson for John Deere said in a statement on the contract rejection by workers: “John Deere remains fully committed to continuing the collective bargaining process in an effort to better understand our employees’ viewpoints. In the meantime, our operations will continue as normal.”