Bernie Sanders Plans Trip To Iowa To Join Striking Workers
A group of senators led by Bernie Sanders has spoken out in support of the striking workers in Iowa and Wisconsin at the CNH Industrial plants.
According to KCRG, the senators wrote a letter urging CNH Industrial to offer the strikers better deals. Sanders says he plans to attend the rallies with the workers in Iowa and Wisconsin next week.
The group of senators says CNH plant workers should not need to accept higher health care costs and modest raises- which is what the company is currently offering. Especially, when the company reported $336 million in profit for the first quarter.
In the letter, the senators wrote:
If CNH can afford to provide you with a $9.2 million signing bonus and nearly $22 million in total compensation for one year of work — nearly 8,000 times the raise you are offering some workers — it can afford to pay all of your workers better wages and better benefits.
Current negotiations would only give the lowest-paid workers at the Iowa and Wisconsin plants a $1.33 an hour raise—which would not cover the $6,400 health insurance deductible.
According to News-Press Now, Sanders plans to visit Wisconsin and Iowa on June 17 to attend town hall rallies with the strikers.
On May 2nd, 1,000 workers in Burlington, Iowa, and Racine, Wisconsin went on strike after contract talks faltered. Employees at the two facilities then went on strike to fight for higher wages and benefits.
Earlier this month, CNH and strikers left the negotiation table as an agreement on labor contracts was not reached.
In the Journal Times, UAW Local 180 President Yasin Mahdi says that the longer the strike goes on the better offer they will get from CNH. He says that their competitor, John Deere, continues to produce tractors and equipment, and CNH, who is known for their Case IH and New Holland tractors, is being held back by more than 1,000 American workers on strike.