John Deere has reached a tentative agreement with its union employees just hours before a strike deadline. Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and John Deere announced there’s tentative agreement on a six-year contract. It covers about seven-thousand workers and 17-thousand retirees. Terms of the proposed agreement must be approved by members of the 12 U-A-W locals who work at Deere facilities. Deere’s union workers voted a few weeks ago to authorize a strike if contract negotiations failed. John Deere has plants in Davenport, Dubuque, Waterloo, Ottumwa and Ankeny.