(Reuters) –Deere & Co workers were set to continue their three-week-old strike after they voted to reject a second contract reached between the U.S. tractor maker and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union that bumped up wages and bonuses, UAW said on Tuesday.
The strike will continue and 55% of the workers voted down the agreement, UAW added.
Workers at 12 facilities in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas rejected the second tentative agreement, Deere said.
The company would have invested an additional $3.5 billion in its employees through agreements reached with UAW, Deere Chief Administrative Officer Marc Howze said.
The latest agreement provided for a 10% rise in wages this year, 5% in 2023 and 2025, as well as lump sum bonuses amounting to 3% of their pay for 2022, 2024 and 2026, according to UAW.
This was an improvement to last month’s agreement, which was rejected overwhelmingly by the workers. It provided for 5% to 6% wage rise this year and 3% raises in 2023 and 2025 along with a 2% lump sum bonus.
The workers then went on strike, demanding better terms from Illinois-based Deere.
The company in August forecast fiscal 2021 net income between $5.7 billion and $5.9 billion, up from its previous outlook of $5.3 billion to $5.7 billion.
(Reporting by Juby Babu and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Radhika Anilkumar; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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