Deere & Company has announced in a press release that they reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) to replace the six-year master labor contract, which expired on midnight of September 30, 2015.
The tentative agreement is for another six years and will be presented to the members for a ratification vote.
The master agreement covers manufacturing employees working at Deere's facilities in Davenport, Ankeny, Dubuque, Ottumwa and Waterloo, Iowa; East Moline, Moline and Milan, Illinois; and in Coffeyville, Kansas, according to the press release.
The UAW represents about 10,000 Deere manufacturing employees at 12 factories.
Deere said in the press release that other details of the agreement won't be made public.
Ken Golden, a spokesman from Deere, said that the company plans to honor its agreement with UAW to make no further public comments on the negotiations.
Workers though are not happy being left in the dark during the negotiation process.
The World Socialist Web Site reports that the workers they have spoken with have denounced the media gag that UAW is doing.
These workers have also expressed growing hostility towards the union and the company.
The UAW has been going to extreme lengths to maintain the secrecy of its negotiations with companies, similar to what it did with the negotiation with Fiat Chrysler, according to the World Socialist Web Site.
The Deere workers' vote to authorize a strike action was not even reported, a contrast to its talks in 2009.
The World Socialist Web Site also reported that many workers were unaware of the widespread approval of the strike authorization by other locals.
One worker even commented that "everyone is so tight-lipped. There's been no word."
The ratification vote for the tentative agreement is likely to be held on Sunday where a big meeting will be held, multiple workers told the World Socialist Web Site.
