John Deere considers using overseas plants and US strikebreakers

[Omaha Steve]

X post from GD.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/business/john-deere-strike/index.html

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business

Updated 10:32 AM ET, Fri November 5, 2021

New York (CNN Business)John Deere says it is looking at all options to provide products to its customers, including possibly using strikebreakers or importing equipment from overseas factories it operates.

More than 10,000 members of the United Auto Workers union remain on strike at 12 Midwest factories and facilities of the farm and construction equipment company. In a vote concluded Tuesday a majority of members rejected a tentative deal that would have ended the walkout.

The company will now work on what it refers to as its "customer service continuation plan," said Marc Howze, its chief administrative officer in an interview with CNN Business. As part of that, the company is looking whether it can use the 59 factories it operates outside the United States to help during the strike. Asked if Deere is looking at importing products from those factories to fill US orders, he responded, "That's something we're exploring."

"We've made commitments to our customers," he said. "We want to live up to those commitments."

FULL story AND video at link above.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. I thought there were all about American made, blah, blah, blah.

[NCjack]

2. If Deere relocates out of USA, I never buy from them again.

[Hoyt]

3. Kubota maybe? Oh wait, that ain't here either. Deere will work something out.

[NCjack]

5. Yes, Kubota. I have had enough of American companies leaving.

[dixiechiken1]

4. Great letter in today's Quad City Times...

Letter: Take care of workers

I worked 36 years as a machinist on the factory floor for John Deere. I am now a Deere/UAW retiree. If I were to bleed, I’d bleed John Deere green; actually John Deere industrial yellow. I am hesitant about saying anything, but I feel that I must.

In my 36 years rarely have I seen an ad in the paper for workers. Now ads are weekly, even daily. I’ve heard that they also have a high turnover rate.

Deere always paid the best and with that you get the best employees. Employees like me stayed for 20-, 30-plus years, which made Deere the great company it is today.

I was also a Deere shareholder. The best that I remember is my Deere stock hitting $150 per share. Today’s newspaper says Deere stock sits at $343, more than double. The best dividend that I ever received was $1.20, and today it sits at $4.20, more than triple. The wages of the UAW workers have not increased anywhere near that much.

My point is that you need to take care of your UAW workers as well, if not better, than your shareholders. Has a shareholder ever tightened a bolt on a combine, gotten sweaty assembling a 4-wheel drive loader or had the skills of a tradesman to repair a high-tech machining center?

Also, it's time to end all incentive/piecework plans.

Your most important assets are your highly skilled and proud UAW employees!

https://archive.ph/dWU6F