Deere says rejected deal Is ‘best-and-final’ offer to union

Joe Deaux, Bloomberg News



Deere & Co. workers hold signs during a strike outside the John Deere Des Moines Works facility in Ankeny, Iowa, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Thousands of workers at Deere & Co., the world’s biggest farm machinery maker, began picketing Thursday for the first time in more than three decades to demand better pay as the company heads for its most profitable year ever. , Bloomberg

Deere & Co. said the new contract it provided to striking union employees is the company’s best and final offer, and they aren’t returning to the bargaining table.

The world’s largest maker of farm equipment said it remains in contact with the United Auto Workers union that represents workers, but that it has nothing else to bargain about. The comments come a day after workers voted down a second tentative agreement, extending the strike by some 10,000 workers into a third week.

“The agreement that we provided is frankly our best and final offer,” Marc Howze, chief administrative officer for Deere, said in an interview. “In order for us to be competitive we have gone as far as we’re gonna go.”

The latest rejected deal offered larger wage increases, no new tiers to retirement benefits and a signing bonus of US$8,500. The wage increase affecting 14 of Deere’s facilities was larger than nearly a dozen other collective bargaining agreements the UAW has negotiated since 2018, according to Bloomberg Law’s database of labor contracts.

The Moline, Illinois-based company said Tuesday it would move into a new phase of its customer service continuation plan. Howze, though, would not give details, other than to say that the company is focused on meeting customer demand, especially for its parts business. The parts business is crucial at this time of year, because farmers are harvesting and need their equipment running at full capacity.

Currently, Deere is keeping its operations running by staffing facilities with salaried employees. Howze wouldn’t say how many striking workers the company was able to replace.

“We’re not going back to the bargaining table,” Howze said. “There’s nothing else to bargain about.”