John Deere strike imminent?

[CascadeClone]

self employed is a whole different beast and I feel for you there.

Our small biz has about 15 employees on BCBS PPO and our costs are similar to what Fallof81 has. We had a guy retire last year, he and his wife (mid 60s) were ~$4000 combined annual. Biz pays 90%. Used to pay 100%, but it went up around 40% the first two years after Obamacare passed, and we just couldn't eat all of it.

 

[CascadeClone]

Not sure why anyone in their right mind would give them either of those things. Recipe for bankruptcy.

Unbounded liabilities. The dumb thing is, yes the company will go bankrupt. But then you know who is screwed? The retirees when the money river runs dry.

TANSTAAFL.

 

[Stormin]

Hundreds? Ha!
Just got my BC renewal for wife and I. 1750 monthly. High deductible. In our 50s. Self employed.

Check out Healthcare Exchange. Depending on your income you may qualify for subsidies. Self Employed should be looking hard at the Exchange. Big time savings if you make less than 4 times poverty line.

 

[dmclone]

If they were ever going to strike and ask for the world, this seems like the perfect time. Huge profits, low unemployment, low inventories, etc.
Deere is in a lot of categories, are most of their competitors still manufacturing domestically?

 

[FallOf81]

Check out Healthcare Exchange. Depending on your income you may qualify for subsidies. Self Employed should be looking hard at the Exchange. Big time savings if you make less than 4 times poverty line.

Appreciate the tip, but if I'm in my 50's making household income less than 4 times the poverty line I'd be a Fawkeye fan.

 

[BryceC]

If they were ever going to strike and ask for the world, this seems like the perfect time. Huge profits, low unemployment, low inventories, etc.
Deere is in a lot of categories, are most of their competitors still manufacturing domestically?

As big of a companies as like Deere or Cat, they manufacture all over the world. So they have factories all over the place. Cat is probably a more comparable company to Deere than Case for example. Case is owned by CNH global, which is based in Europe. 40k of the 60k Case employees are based in Europe and I think they have less than 1,000 UAW members and only 2 factories manufacturing in the US.

Cat is a lot more comparable with 13,000 UAW members in the US manufacturing in a lot of factories. Their contract is coming up in 2 years so we aren't seeing or hearing much from them currently. This doesn't give much detail on salary but the benefits don't compare. Again, I have zero problem with anybody striking. What I do have a problem with is the members acting like they are getting screwed.

http://www.uawlocal974.org/bargainingArticles/FINAL-UAW-Caterpillar-Highlights.pdf

 

[MeowingCows]

As big of a companies as like Deere or Cat, they manufacture all over the world. So they have factories all over the place. Cat is probably a more comparable company to Deere than Case for example. Case is owned by CNH global, which is based in Europe. 40k of the 60k Case employees are based in Europe and I think they have less than 1,000 UAW members and only 2 factories manufacturing in the US.

Cat is a lot more comparable with 13,000 UAW members in the US manufacturing in a lot of factories. Their contract is coming up in 2 years so we aren't seeing or hearing much from them currently. This doesn't give much detail on salary but the benefits don't compare. Again, I have zero problem with anybody striking. What I do have a problem with is the members acting like they are getting screwed.

http://www.uawlocal974.org/bargainingArticles/FINAL-UAW-Caterpillar-Highlights.pdf

But if they don't act like they're getting screwed, they don't have any leverage to strike. One leans credence to the other. The whole point of the strike is maximizing their position to get the most for their labor. That's what a union does.

That reads to me like you're against the strike, but don't want to admit it.

 

[qwerty]

I didn't realize this until about a year ago, but CAT is bigger than Deere by a little margin and CNH is not as far behind as you might think (probably because of their EU sales).
Deere is $42B company
CAT is $48B company
CNH is $31B company

Also, the New Holland part of CNH is in New Holland, PA. I stayed at a motel next door a couple of years ago.

 

[dmclone]

I was visiting a winery/farm in Italy a few years back and the only English the guy seemed to know was "John Deere #1" as he got off his brand new tractor. Apparently this was a big deal since Lamborghini is a big tractor producer in Italy. I had no clue.

 

[CyJack13]

Took some balls to vote down that 2nd contract.

I expect they get a slightly better offer within a week or two and that one passes. If that doesn’t happen, this thing is going to last a while. Deere is going to have to deal with a big fall out on the salary side once bonuses are paid out.

 

[DevilDog]

Just fyi co-pays are not zero never have been.

 

[isufbcurt]

Not sure why anyone in their right mind would give them either of those things. Recipe for bankruptcy.

Give it to them. Then sell it to a company in WDM to manage and profit from (like many companies are doing).

Win win for all involved.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

I expect they get a slightly better offer within a week or two and that one passes. If that doesn’t happen, this thing is going to last a while. Deere is going to have to deal with a big fall out on the salary side once bonuses are paid out.

I was told from a non union JD employee today that there would not be another vote till after Thanksgiving.

 

[BryceC]

But if they don't act like they're getting screwed, they don't have any leverage to strike. One leans credence to the other. The whole point of the strike is maximizing their position to get the most for their labor. That's what a union does.

That reads to me like you're against the strike, but don't want to admit it.

Admittedly I wish they weren't striking, but I honestly understand. It's a tough time to be an employee anywhere, given that we are in the middle of the Great Resignation.

I guess it's more the way I'm wired. I honestly have no problem if they said Deere had a great year, we have a ton of leverage, and we want a lot more. That makes sense to me.

Acting like you're getting screwed when the details of the contract are plain for everybody to see, which is honestly pretty dang good by any measure especially in Iowa, rings really hollow to me. I don't like it when people lie to me I guess, call me crazy.

 

[CyJack13]

I was told from a non union JD employee today that there would not be another vote till after Thanksgiving.

I would doubt they actually know the details on that.

 

[Rabbuk]

I was told from a non union JD employee today that there would not be another vote till after Thanksgiving.

Oof

 

[mramseyISU]

I would doubt they actually know the details on that.

Yeah they haven't told us anything that hasn't been released to the public as far as when they're going to even go back the the table with the UAW. Lots of speculation like that though.

 

[MeowingCows]

Admittedly I wish they weren't striking, but I honestly understand. It's a tough time to be an employee anywhere, given that we are in the middle of the Great Resignation.

I guess it's more the way I'm wired. I honestly have no problem if they said Deere had a great year, we have a ton of leverage, and we want a lot more. That makes sense to me.

Acting like you're getting screwed when the details of the contract are plain for everybody to see, which is honestly pretty dang good by any measure especially in Iowa, rings really hollow to me. I don't like it when people lie to me I guess, call me crazy.

And JD is lying by implying they can't give more to their workers, when all objective measure of their profits would state otherwise. Union knows they have great leverage, leverage they may never have again for decades. If they're ever going to shoot their shot, it's now or never.

I'd rather side with liars who are like me over liars whose standards of living I'll never achieve in my entire lifetime, if I'm forced to make that choice. At least one group of liars would have my own back and interests.

 

[CyJack13]

Yeah they haven't told us anything that hasn't been released to the public as far as when they're going to even go back the the table with the UAW. Lots of speculation like that though.

I’m guessing there’s going to start to be some dissension within the UAW at this point as pretty much every site except waterloo passed this version of the deal. Not sure how much interaction there is between the different locals but they don’t seem to all be on the same page now.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

The 1997 contract is biting both the Union leaders and Deere in the ass 24 years later.

That generation absolutely sold out the next generation and the current generation isn't going to do that again.

I've heard the same as above that there aren't any negotiations planned and it will be, at least, weeks before there would be another vote.