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Workers at 14 Deere & Co. plants across the U.S. walked off their jobs last Thursday for the first time in 35 years while their union—the United Auto Workers—continue to negotiate contract demands, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.A.W. seeks higher pay and increased benefits for its members who work at the Illinois-based company. The paper pointed out that it is a challenging time for many companies due to the supply-chain costs and other factors.
The walk-off occurred while workers across the U.S. have used the labor shortage to demand increased wages and more benefits. The paper pointed out that 1,400 workers at Kellogg’s have been on strike as well as workers at Mondelez International that resulted in a new contract and higher company contributions to 401(k) accounts.
Many union representatives for Deere rejected the company’s contract proposal that would have delivered a 5 percent raise to some workers.
“The cards are in our favor right now,” Chris Lauren, a longtime worker at a Deere plant in Iowa, told The Associated Press. “It’s never been lined up this well for us.” He told the AP that the company recently had record profits and John May, its CEO, received an enormous pay increase.
TREND FORECAST: It is a clear supply and demand issues: The higher demand, the lower the supply… the higher the price paid for the commodity, be it a product or service.
With a severe worker shortage and high demand for skilled labor, unions, which have been in long decline in the United States, will be gaining strength. Thus, the stronger the unions grow, the greater their demands will rise… and so too will labor strikes.