Deere's real problem is that they have a horrible corporate culture. Much of that is due to the antics of the UAW, and much of it is due to the company retaining terrible middle managers. Both constrain the productivity that would grow the pot of money.
I used to work in and around the USPS, and that was another toxic culture. The APWU at the time was full of some of the most venomous unproductive individuals I've been around in my entire life. Not all, but a LOT. And of course you can probably imagine the skill level of much of the USPS middle management.
Pretty much the situation my company was in a few years ago. Owned by a much larger company, whose solution to problems was to stick another manager between the problem and the person who was supposed to solve the problem. On the shop floor, the union prevented workers from flexing between tasks, so the shop labor was way bloated. Shop workers were ticked off because they liked flexing (reduced boredom and gave them additional skiils). The result: big losses, and the big company decided to shut the place down.
One of the persons who came in to buy some of the assets looked the place over, and decided he should be able to make money. So he bought everything, hired back the key people, and reopened. Now, we are making excellent profits with between 1/2 and 2/3 of the previous workforce (both shop and office), and getting higher wages. We've gotten performance bonuses every year so far since the reopening. Shop is non-union, and no rumblings whatsoever about organizing.
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