By: Lucas Garske
On October 14th, Around 10,000 workers from the United Auto Workers Union went on strike against Farm equipment manufacturer, John Deere, in Ottumwa, Iowa.
The company reached an agreement to form a new 6 year contract 2 weeks prior, but this Sunday, 90% of the workers rejected the contract. Negotiations between the union and management have been unsuccessful so far.
This is the largest private sector strike in the nation since the UAW held another strike two years prior against General Motors, which lasted 6 weeks. This continues the trend of workers gaining more power over their contracts in recent times, as businesses are struggling to find workers due to a record high number of workers quitting jobs.
Overall, wages for workers are increasing, as employers are now willing to give employees the benefits they need in order to stay on the job. The recent strikes that have been occurring, combined with many people quitting their jobs, has effectively given workers the upper hand in business negotiations.
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