Striking Deere workers vote Wednesday on 3rd contract offer

By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

More than 10,000 striking Deere & Co. workers are voting on a new contract offer from the tractor maker, but this third deal is strikingly similar to a contract that 55% of workers rejected two weeks ago. The latest proposed contract being voted on Wednesday maintains the 10% immediate raises that the last deal offered, and it makes what the United Auto Workers union called modest changes to Deere’s internal incentive pay program for workers. The disputed contract covers 12 plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas where the Moline, Illinois-based company’s iconic John Deere green agricultural and construction equipment is made.