UAW: Building a better future for ag-imp and construction workers

More than 22,000 UAW members produce top quality tractors, combines and other farm implements, as well as excavators, bulldozers and other construction equipment for manufacturers Caterpillar, CNH (Case New Holland) and John Deere. Forty-five thousand ag-imp retired workers and surviving spouses are also part of the UAW, with pensions and health benefits negotiated as part of UAW contracts.

UAW members have successfully navigated recent industry transitions by negotiating competitive labor agreements to retain good-paying manufacturing jobs in the United States. Today, with the industry stabilized, UAW members are able to use their bargaining strength to achieve wage and benefit and other workplace improvements for themselves and future generations of workers.

“We just negotiated an agreement that’s a win-win for both the company and our local unions,” says Dave Breiby, UAW Local 79 chairman at the John Deere Parts Distribution Warehouse in Milan, Ill., and co-chair of the UAW-Deere national bargaining committee.

Job security is a top priority for UAW members, as Breiby explains. “The only way to secure jobs is through the collective bargaining process, and you know that when you have an agreement with this company, they’re going to honor that agreement. Without it they can cut you at any time, as they have with their salary workforce.”