Union workers at John Deere have accepted the company’s latest offer and their 35-day strike has ended.
Sixty-one percent of workers who cast ballots today voted “yes” on Deere and Company’s third contract offer. It was very similar to the second. Both promised immediate 10% raises along with 5% raises in the third and fifth years of the six-year-long contract. The third agreement made modifications to production incentives.
In a written statement, UAW International president Ray Curry said the strike at John Deere “seemed to unite the nation behind the struggle for fairness in the workplace.” Deere and Company CEO John May also issued a statement, calling the wage and benefit package “groundbreaking in many ways” and said he’s pleased the company’s “highly skilled employees are back to work.”
The UAW said its members assigned to tonight’s third shift could voluntarily work overnight. All others will be expected at their job sites tomorrow. This was the first strike at Deere and Company since 1986.