According to statements from union officials, United Auto Workers (UAW) will begin negotiating a 6-year contract with Case New Holland (CNH) in early April. UAW International Director of Public Relations Brian Rothenberg confirmed that the union’s contract covering Case IH workers will expire on April 30, 2022.
Workers at two factories are covered under this contract: the Burlington, Iowa, plant which manufactures tractor loader backhoes, bulldozers and corn and auger heads, and the Racine, Wisconsin, plant which manufacturers the Magnum series tractor. Workers at the Burlington factory are represented by UAW Local 807 and those at the Racine factory are represented by UAW Local 180.
UAW Local 807 President Nick Guernsey says the contracts cover about 1,200 employees. He stated the local unions are prepping for negotiations, with formal negotiations beginning in early April. Guernsey says the outcome of the UAW strike at John Deere factories last fall will impact what the unions looks for in the CNH contract. “Obviously, with John Deere, it kind of put us into a different position. They hit it out of the ballpark," he says. "They did something that probably we’ve never seen and may never be seen again. So, what we’re looking at, at this time, for our contract is we want to maintain industry standards. We want to be competitive within the industry, and the only way to do that is to up some of the things that were lacking in the contract, wages being one, and benefits.”
The upcoming negotiations between CNH and UAW follow a month-long strike that occurred last fall as 10,000 UAW-represented John Deere workers rejected two tentative labor agreements before ratifying the third by a vote of 61% to 39%. The first agreement was rejected by 90% of UAW John Deere workers. During the strike, Deere was granted an injunction against striking workers at certain factories to limit their picketing, maintained employee's healthcare and incentive pay and ended negotiations at one point.
CNH Industrial last faced a strike with UAW workers back in 2004 which centered around the company's desire to align union worker compensation and health care more closely with the company's many non-union employees.
Editor’s Take:
There is little doubt that the recent negotiations between the UAW and Deere will play a significant role is establishing the pattern for the CNH contract talks. Pattern bargaining is a well-tested approach often employed by the unions. Although the number of workers covered by the Deere and CNH contracts is vastly different, CNH will be expected to come very close to the final results in the Deere contract. The economic impact of the Deere contract is estimated to be $250M to $300M per year over the life of the contract. A strike by CNH workers could be devastating to farmers/ranchers in the U.S. if negotiations were to break down. Let’s hope for smooth talks and a reasonable outcome for all parties. We will continue to update you on the negotiations as they roll out in April.
