UAW Calls Strikes at 3 Deere Plants as Deadline Passes

The United Auto Workers union struck three Deere & Co. plants early today, but members of 11 other locals remained on the job after last-minute contract talks failed to produce a new pact, the UAW said.

“Unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement,” UAW Vice President Bill Casstevens said in announcing strikes affecting 4,313 workers at Deere facilities in Waterloo, Iowa; Milan, Ill., and Dubuque, Iowa.

Casstevens said members of UAW’s 11 other locals at Deere facilities were asked to work without a contract until further notice from the union. A three-year pact covering 14,000 workers in six states expired at midnight and no new talks were scheduled.

He said job security, cost-of-living salary adjustments and pension benefits were the main sticking points at the three plants.

“Deere and Co. is very disappointed that the union chose to strike, especially after so many months of attempting to arrive at an equitable new labor agreement,” said Bob Schoup, a spokesman for the giant farm equipment maker.

Earlier this week, Deere reported a net loss of $39.6 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1986, which brought the firm’s loss through the first nine months to $107.4 million. The company attributed the losses to a continued “steep downturn” in North American farm implement sales.