ANKENY, Iowa — After just over a month of striking for higher wages, John Deere workers are heading back to work.
Local UAW 450, based in Des Moines, posted the news to Facebook Wednesday night saying the contract was ratified 61% yes 39% no "across the chain."
John Deere's official website is reporting operations will resume on the third shift Wednesday night. However, UAW 450's post says they were told that the third shift will be voluntary.
UAW Vice President Chuck Browning released the following statement on Wednesday evening:
“Our members' courageous willingness to strike in order to attain a better standard of living and a more secure retirement resulted in a groundbreaking contract and sets a new standard for workers not only within the UAW but throughout the country.
The sacrifice and solidarity displayed by our John Deere members combined with the determination of their negotiators made this accomplishment possible. They have started a movement for workers in this country by what was achieved here today and they have earned the admiration and respect of all that strive for what is just and equitable in the workplace.”
Deere CEO and chairman John C. May said the following:
"I'm pleased our highly skilled employees are back to work building and supporting the industry-leading products which make our customers more profitable and sustainable. John Deere's success depends on the success of our people. Through our new collective bargaining agreements, we're giving employees the opportunity to earn wages and benefits that are the best in our industries and are groundbreaking in many ways. We have faith that, in return, our employees will find new and better ways to improve our competitiveness and transform the way our customers do their work. Together, our future is bright."
Here's the reported voting margins for some UAW locations:
- Local 281 (Davenport Works): 77% YES 23% NO
- Local 383 (Waterloo) 44% YES 56% NO
- Local 450 (Des Moines) 64% YES 36%
- Local 865 (Harvester) 62% YES 38% NO
More than 10,000 striking Deere & Co. workers voted on a new contract offer from the tractor maker, but this third deal is strikingly similar to a contract that 55% of workers rejected two weeks ago.
The latest contract maintains the 10% immediate raises that the last deal offered, and it makes what the United Auto Workers union called modest changes to Deere’s internal incentive pay program for workers.
According to agreement documents posted to the UAW Local 838 and UAW Local 450 Facebook pages, one of the modifications to that rejected agreement was an increase in Deere's weekly, production-based bonuses known as "Continuous Improvement Performance Plans," or CIPP for short.
Workers under CIPP are placed on teams within Deere's different facilities. Each team is given a performance goal, with an incentive to exceed that target through the CIPP bonus. Under the current contract, teams reaching 115% of their goals receive a 15% pay increase for that week. If the output were to exceed that 15%, the extra money is put into a reserve fund and divvied up among workers at the end of the quarter.
Under the latest ratifications to the second contract offer, that cap would be raised up to 20%, potentially meaning workers could receive more money on their paychecks week-to-week.
Another proposed change to the CIPP program could be found in Deere's efficiency measurements. Like before, the newest contract will examine how often each team is meeting and exceeding CIPP expectations.
Before, Deere looked at six-month periods to measure averages and trends for an individual team's CIPP goals. Under the new contract, that timeframe will lengthen to a year.
The contract covers 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas where the Moline, Illinois-based company's iconic John Deere green agricultural and construction equipment is made.
With just over 9,000 of Deere's UAW members voting, the company's second contract offer was rejected by a 55-45% margin on Nov. 2. However, that gap was much closer than the first proposed contract, which was shot down by roughly 90% of union workers on Oct. 10.
While the latest vote wasn't on a fully new contract, one Harvester Works employee, who is remaining anonymous by request, said the ratification changes might be enough to push just the right amount of workers over to the "yes" side.
The employee said it's been a long month on the picket lines, especially as temperatures continue to drop, and strike pay trickles in as the holidays approach.
A look at John Deere's stock price performance shows a 9.5% increase since workers went on strike in October.
WQAD News 8 contributed to this report.