United Automotive Workers posted on Saturday that it had reached a pilot agreement with agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere & Company that could be terminated item including about 10,000 workers, which began in mid-October. The agreement has yet to be confirmed by union members.
Deere workers, particularly in Iowa and Illinois, then went on strike rejection an original agreement with the company earlier this month. Many workers complained that the previously proposed contract had resulted in insufficient wage increases and that new employees had been denied a traditional pension, even though the company had reached a record rate. nearly $ 6 billion in profits this year.
“Negotiators have focused on improving the areas of concern identified by our members during our last ratification process,” said Chuck Browning, UAW vice president who oversaw the negotiations. in a statement, citing the “increased economic benefits” of the new agreement.
The statement also said the agreement “continues to ensure the highest quality of healthcare in the industry”, but did not specifically mention pension provisions. The union said it would not release details of the agreement until John Deere workers had a chance to review them.
Deere and Company confirmed the agreement in a statement, but did not provide further details.
The original agreement rejected by the membership was announced union on October 1 and would increase wages by 5 or 6 percent this year, depending on the worker’s pay grade, and 3 percent more in 2023 and 2025.
This would increase pension benefits for many workers, but traditional pensions for workers employed after 1997 would remain well below traditional benefits for workers employed before that year, and new employees would not receive a traditional pension at all.
The work stoppage came at a time when the number of strikes has increased compared to previous months, among other things more than 1000 workers in Kellogg in more than 2,000 hospital staff in New York.
Some Deere workers became suspicious of their union leadership during a series of corruption scandals involving UAW officials and executives at a company then known as Fiat Chrysler, which led to more than 15 convictions. Among them were two recent UAW presidents.