The messages are one of the final steps to close a strike that lasted eight months, the longest-running major work stoppage in Iowa in 12 years. The union’s vote Saturday to end the strike capped a hostile standoff between the UAW and the Italian-owned implement manufacturer, a fight in which union leaders say they rejected dozens offers before even taking a contract to members.

How did the strike end? The latest proposal passed with 62% of the vote between the two groups on strike, UAW Local 807 at CNH’s Burlington plant and the larger UAW Local 180 at its plant in Racine, Wisconsin.

The outcome showed a significant shift in member sentiment from the previous contract vote Jan. 7, when only 45% of strikers approved a proposal from CNH. The swing over the last two weeks came even as multiple members said the actual offer from the company barely budged.

What changed workers’ minds? Multiple workers say they received letters from the company Jan. 17, informing them that managers would hire permanent replacements if the union didn’t vote to ratify an agreement by Jan. 23.

If a company hires permanent replacements, it doesn’t have to immediately re-hire every union member once the strike ends. The company merely has to place those workers on a striker recall list. The company then has to offer those workers jobs as positions become open.

Why did workers hold out for so long? Kim Alber, a paint line employee who has worked at CNH Industrial for 10 years, said many members had stuck with their opposition, despite what the company hyped as a 28% pay bump in its Jan. 7 offer, because it was offering a less generous health insurance plan to new hires.

“That’s a lot of money,” she said of CNH’s offer. “If you just looked at it that way, if you only only looked at the money part of it, that’s a good raise.”

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Approximately 1,100 workers went on strike at two plants – 400 in Burlington, Iowa, and 700 in Racine, Wisconsin – on May 2 to challenge wages, overtime, vacation and retirement benefits.

The agreement, which was approved, was reportedly an improved version of CNH’s “last, best and final offer” that was rejected by UAW members on January 7. According to UAW officials, the new contract provides wage increases, shift premium increases, classification upgrades as well as other improvements.

A union official told The Hawk Eye Newspaper that members voted 62.4% in favor and 37.6% against the proposal this time. In addition, the vote reportedly came after CNH issued a letter to UAW members informing them of an intention to hire 220 permanent replacement workers.

Officials did not disclose any details of what is included in the contract. Previously, the company said the last offer that workers rejected included wage increases of 28% to 38% over four years. CNH did not immediately respond to questions Sunday. 

“This agreement reflects the effort of a determined bargaining team and members being on an almost nine-month strike,” said Ray Curry, UAW president. “UAW members at Locals 180 and 807 did the hard work to strengthen the hand of negotiators.”

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In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, President Ray Curry said he’s hopeful the deal will be reached “within the next week or two” and presented to members for another vote.

More than 1,000 workers have been on strike at CNH plants in Iowa and Wisconsin for nearly nine months. On  from the maker of construction and agricultural equipment and stayed on the picket lines.

The company, Curry said, has been talking with the UAW since the rejection. “We believe that there is going to be an offer that’s there that the membership will see in a different light, with adjustments, not the same offer,” he said.

Workers at the two plants previously rejected at the start of the strike a three-year deal that included 18.5% raises because of concerns that the proposed raises wouldn’t cover soaring inflation and health insurance costs.

The CNH strike is one of the longest ones over the past couple of years as workers have increasingly demanded better pay and working conditions coming out of the pandemic. 

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Bargaining sessions between the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and CNH broke down in the middle of June, and there are no additional meetings scheduled in the near term, union leaders and the company said.
 About 1,100 hourly workers in Burlington, Iowa, and Racine, Wis., have been on strike since May 2 at the company.

The UAW wants higher wages and a longer contract than the company has offered. The union said the wage increases proposed by the company would be eaten up by the higher costs the company wants employees to shoulder for health insurance.

“This deal has to sell itself and right now it’s not selling itself,” said Nick Guernsey, president of the union local in Burlington, where CNH produces Case-brand construction equipment, including backhoes, and components.

CNH said UAW negotiators rejected the company’s last major proposal in May without putting it before rank-and-file members. “We strongly encourage the UAW to present our offer to our employees for a vote,” the company said.

Mr. Guernsey said the union wants a six-year contract that elevates workers’ hourly rates to the same levels as employees at CNH’s six nonunion U.S. plants, plus a raise on top of that. The UAW estimates that hourly nonunion workers for CNH make an average of about $5.50 an hour more than unionized workers at the Racine and Burlington plants. The company said pay rates for individual plants are based on labor rates in the communities where plants are located.

Deere UAW members from the Quad Cities traveled to Burlington on Sunday to join the CNH workers on the picket lines.

The vote does not call a strike, but instead gives the union the ability to call a strike on the workers’ behalf should they feel it necessary.

The union’s contract covering Case IH workers will expire on April 30, 2022. s

Update Nov 17 – over after workers agree to 3rd contract offer – deal approved by 61% of the UAW members voting.

Deere & Co. and the United Auto Workers have agreed to a third potential contract.

After UAW members in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas voted down two previous agreements over the last month, representatives for the company and the union met again Thursday and Friday. According to a UAW news release, the two sides reached an agreement that includes “modest modifications” over the most recent rejected contract offer.

Union members will vote on the contract Wednesday. UAW spokesperson Brian Rothenberg said Friday that he was not sure when members will be given details about the contract.

“The UAW will present the company’s offer for ratification and, as has been the case throughout the bargaining process, will support the outcome,” he said.

Rothenberg said the latest agreement is Deere’s “last, best and final offer.” Deere spokesperson Jennifer Hartmann declined to comment Friday night, but she previously said that the company would not increase its offer above the one members rejected Nov. 2.

About 10,000 UAW members have been on strike since Oct. 14.

About 90 percent of members rejected the first contract proposed by the union and the company on Oct. 10, saying its offer of 5 to 6 percent raises was inadequate in a period when Deere was posting record profits.

The second contract offer would have raised wages by 10 percent, boosted retirement benefits and preserved the pension program that the company previously proposed to eliminate for new workers. Fifty-five percent of UAW members rejected that contract, continuing the strike.

If the company declares an impasse, labor lawyers say, Deere can offer the contract to any workers willing to cross the picket line. But the union could challenge Deere’s declaration before the National Labor Relations Board, kicking off a potentially long, contentious court battle that could force the two sides back to the bargaining table.

Source: Des Moines Register

An Oct. 10 ratification vote is planned, according to a post on UAW Union 281’s Facebook page.

“After six weeks of negotiations, John Deere and the UAW have reached a tentative agreement that honors the enormous contributions of John Deere’s production and maintenance employees and builds a strong foundation for our shared success in the future,” said Brad Morris, vice president of labor relations for Deere.

The current contract expired early Friday morning, but a 14-day contract extension was approved overnight, allowing operations to continue as scheduled as negotiations went on.

The union previously approved a strike authorization, and Local 281 reminded its members last week that a strike-duty roster was in circulation.

Source: Des Moines Register

The current six-year master agreement covers approximately 10,100 production and maintenance employees at 12 Deere facilities. It expires Oct.1.

Brad Morris, vice president for labor relations at Deere, said the company looks “forward to honoring the contributions of our employees through the bargaining process and reaching an agreement that demonstrates a vision for our shared success—and the success of all those who rely on us—well into the future.”

Source: PR Newswire

As U.S. states begin to lift lockdown orders and companies gear up to restart production, the policies put in place by the two heavy equipment makers offer a template for returning workers to idled factories in other sectors.

Giving employees sick time without penalty, temperature screenings, staggered shifts, and hiring a hygiene-auditing firm are some of the measures the two companies have taken to reassure employees to stay on production lines when many union and non-union workers balk at reporting for jobs that could expose them to the virus.

Detroit’s auto companies had to negotiate long and hard with the UAW, which represents their hourly workers, over how and when to restart U.S. production. The union blocked the automakers’ plans to restart their factories May 4.

The union has since indicated that its members are ready to return to work at a few U.S. plants.

By contrast, the UAW let Deere resume production at two of its facilities within days of employees testing positive for the virus.

Union officials attribute that decision to a safety policy they negotiated with the company that mandates a strict implementation of guidelines prescribed by the nation’s health protection agency and the World Health Organization.

But it was a provision for expanded benefits that sealed the deal, UAW officials say.

“One of our priorities on the health and safety issue is to make sure that our members can self-report without any kind of penalty,” said Brian Rothenberg, the union’s public relations director. The union is negotiating with all its employers for similar benefits in order to reduce the risk of infection in the workplace.

Under its agreement with the UAW, Deere is providing paid sick leave to cover the recommended 14 days of self-quarantine, even to workers who think they have been exposed to the virus but are not certain and have not been tested.

“The last thing we wanted was for individuals to feel compelled to come to work to get paid,” a Deere official said.

The company altered shift schedules to ensure employees from one shift exit before the next shift reports to work. It also hired an industrial-hygiene company to audit the sanitization work at some of its larger units.

Additionally, the manufacturer enhanced pay provisions to cover the challenges workers face due to day care and school closings. It also waived copays, coinsurance and deductibles for its employees for coronavirus testing.

Source: Reuters