Thread by @JonahFurman

For anyone just catching up on the 10,000 worker UAW strike at John Deere -- the largest strike in the US in two years -- here's how you can get up to speed, based on what I've written for @labornotes:

@labornotes In early September, Deere presented a disastrously bad first offer to the membership. They likely wanted to lower expectations by super-lowballing them, but ended up pissing everybody off, and members authorized a strike by 99%.

labornotes.org/2021/09/ten-th…

@labornotes They got to the edge of a strike on October 1st, but at the very last second, the UAW and Deere announced an "extension," averting a strike and further pissing off members. Then a tentative agreement that they wouldn't let anyone see for a week.

labornotes.org/2021/10/surpri…

@labornotes On Sunday, members shocked both the union and the company by rejecting the contract by a whopping 90%, with 90% of members voting. This seems to have been a wake-up call to the UAW, who quickly announced a strike deadline of tonight:

labornotes.org/blogs/2021/10/…

@labornotes Today, management continued to threaten workers and pressure them to settle, while non-union salaried workers began leaking documents to Labor Notes and expressing their support of the union members' cause.

labornotes.org/blogs/2021/10/…

@labornotes Hovering in the background of all of this is a national referendum in the UAW on direct elections for top union officers. This is in response to the historic corruption scandal, but also fueled by members anger at decades of give-backs and concessions.

labornotes.org/2021/09/auto-w…

@labornotes The Deere strike in particular is about:
--> Corporate profits against stagnating wages
--> Decades of two-tier and concessionary contracts coming home to roost
--> A member revolt against the status quo tacitly endorsed by the status quo
--> Tight labor market and the pandemic