The headline from The Wall Street Journal says it all:
“Union Victories First, Job Losses Later”
Equipment manufacturer John Deere has announced it will lay off 600 employees in three U.S. manufacturing plants as it shifts production to a new plant in Mexico.
The layoffs include 310 workers in two Iowa facilities and another 280 in Illinois. The employees manufacture farm, construction, and forestry equipment.
The new round of layoffs come after more than 100 workers took early retirement at the company’s Ottumwa, Iowa plant and about 150 employees were laid off in Ankeny. In late March, the company also laid off 308 workers in Waterloo.
The WSJ editorial board wrote:
“Union strikes and contract victories garner headlines and political chest-beating. But what happens to the workers later when many of them lose their jobs? An example is unfolding at Deere & Co., the big farm machinery company.”