cereal plants. The strike ended that same month when workers ratified a new contract.Įarlier this summer, more than 600 workers at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, walked off the job to protest working conditions during the pandemic, including what they called forced overtime. In October, 1,400 workers walked off the job at Kellogg Co.'s U.S. comes amid a pandemic-era reckoning on wages and working conditions by employees across the U.S. "For decades, wages across the economy have lagged behind productivity growth, and workers may be tired of seeing the gains from their efforts go predominantly to corporations making record-breaking earnings." Wave of strikes "Although the proposed contract was a significant improvement over the previous offer, the Deere workers evidently felt that the company could afford more," Fordham University sociologist Chris Rhomberg said. Observers say the rejection of the deal shows pent-up anger among Deere workers over how much of its profits the company has been willing to share with workers. Department of Agriculture predicts that farmers' net income will increase by nearly 20% this year, to $113 billion. "It's a gamble, but the economic wind is against their backs, given widespread supply chain problems and the current worker shortage."ĭeere officials, who have predicted that the company will report record profits of between $5.7 billion and $5.9 billion this fiscal year, don't want to miss out on sales to farmers who are ready to buy thanks to strong crop prices. They're pushing things further than the union leadership apparently wants to go," said Victor Chen, a sociologist at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies labor. "It seems general membership feels emboldened by this current political moment of labor power. Workers have been encouraged to seek more now because of the current worker shortages and Deere's strong profits. The vote Tuesday was much closer than when 90% of the workers rejected the company's first offer last month, but 55% of the workers still rejected the latest offer.
And pressure to reach a settlement will mount the longer workers go without pay. With a majority of workers voting against the latest offer, union officials face demands to deliver more but that might be difficult given the Moline, Illinois-based company's stance.
UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said union leaders were meeting to discuss their next moves.
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