
If UAW workers at 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas agree to a new six-year contract with Deere & Company, the strike that had the potential to create even more supply-chain woes for construction equipment customers may be at an end.
Picketers will remain at facilities until union members give their approval to any agreement, a vote that the Waterloo Courier in Waterloo, Iowa, says will take place Tuesday.
The Waterloo paper says the proposed contract includes a 10% increase in the first year, and 5% raises in the contract's third and fifth years. In addition, the proposal includes 3% lump sums in years two, four and six of the contract along with cost-of-living adjustments.
UAW members would also get a ratification bonus of $8,500 and no increase in health insurance cost. New hires would receive coverage after 30 days, and members would receive two weeks of full-paid parental leave, vision and autism care coverage, says the paper, citing the UAW Local 838's Facebook page.
The new deal means that entry-level Deere union employees would see an immediate increase in hourly wages from $20.12 to $22.13, says the Des Moines Register. Deere will reinstate quarterly cost-of-living adjustments that workers lost in their 2015 contract. Throughout the life of the six-year contract, the UAW expects workers to receive a 30% increase in wages; the contract ends in 2027.
Deere also added lump-sum payments for future retired employees, says the Des Moines paper. Employees who stay with the company for 10 to 24 years would receive $37,500; workers who stay beyond that would get $50,000. Deere would also give employees an extra $2,000 for each year worked at the company.