By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-08-24 17:46:42 | Updated at 2026-09-03 11:02:51
1 week ago
Members of the United Auto Workers have rejected John Deere’s offer to extend their current contract by two years, setting the stage for negotiations over a new agreement next year.
UAW members at Deere voted down the proposal on Sunday, which would have extended the current collective bargaining agreement from October 2027, when it is set to expire, through October 2029.
The agreement covers about 10,000 workers at Deere facilities in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas.
Deere proposed the extension in July, offering workers 4 percent wage increases in 2026 and 2027, along with a $3,000 bonus if the proposal was accepted by the end of August.
Under the extension, pensions, healthcare coverage, cost-of-living adjustments, and other benefits in the existing six-year contract, approved in 2021, would have remained largely unchanged.
The union opposed the offer, saying it failed to address the outsourcing of work from unionized Deere plants or include a plan to bring back 1,600 laid-off workers.
“While John Deere continues to outsource jobs, 1,600 workers are still laid off,” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement.
“The company failed to make an offer that addressed the issues weighing on the minds of our members, especially job security.
“We’ll see Deere at the table in 2027.”
The union had also criticized Deere for making an unsolicited offer more than a year before the current agreement expires, insisting that changes to the contract should be worked out through the collective bargaining process.
Deere said in a statement to The Epoch Times that it was disappointed by the vote and that its offer was meant to provide “stability and certainty” to employees in what it described as a challenging environment.
“Those market realities have not changed,” the company said. “Demand remains well below 2021 levels, approximately 1,200 production employees remain on layoff, competition continues to intensify, and the outlook for a significant recovery remains uncertain.”
The vote came three days after Deere reported stronger-than-expected results for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2026.
For the three months ended Aug. 2, Deere reported net income of $1.38 billion, up 7 percent from $1.29 billion a year earlier. Worldwide net sales and revenues rose 5 percent to $12.61 billion.
The results showed continued weakness in Deere’s core agricultural equipment business. Sales in the company’s Production and Precision Agriculture division, its largest business segment, fell 6 percent from a year earlier to about $4 billion, primarily because of lower shipment volumes.
That decline, however, was offset by stronger results elsewhere. Construction and Forestry sales jumped 18 percent to $3.62 billion, while Small Agriculture and Turf sales rose 12 percent to $3.38 billion.
Deere has raised the lower end of its fiscal 2026 net income forecast. It now expects profit of between $4.75 billion and $5 billion.
Citing Deere’s profitability, the UAW argued that workers could seek better terms through formal contract negotiations.
“The company’s financial record makes clear why workers believe they deserve an equal voice in decisions about the contract,” the union said.
Deere and other agricultural equipment makers are contending with weak demand as their customers face high equipment prices, high production costs, corporate repair restrictions, and other pressures that have discouraged purchases of new machinery.
An April survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation found that 70 percent of more than 5,700 farmers who responded said they could not afford all the fertilizer they needed for the 2026 crop year, as rising input costs continued to strain farm finances.
According to latest data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, agricultural tractor sales nationwide fell 10.9 percent in July from a year earlier, while combine sales dropped 5.3 percent.
Farmers and equipment manufacturers continue to face “persistent economic uncertainty,” the industry group said.
Deere said those difficult market conditions continue to influence its business decisions.
“Operational challenges and competitive pressures cannot be ignored, and they will continue to shape our decisions,” the company told The Epoch Times.
