A Deere & Co. executive said Monday that the manufacturer will be able to shift some production to its overseas sites as the 10,100-employee strike affecting plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas continues. Cory Reed, president of the company’s Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, told the Des Moines Register that Deere executives still want to reach an agreement with the striking United Auto Workers members, but that company leaders have pulled levers to keep some products flowing since the strike began Oct. 14.
The striking workers represent about 13% of all Deere employees, including workers at plants in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, and Mexico. Reed said executives routinely consider whether to increase production at foreign factories as part of their “normal, continuous operations.”
“Sometimes that means bringing parts in from one of those operations from around the world,” he said. “And by the way, (Deere’s international factories) employ thousands of employees in each of those places, too, that step up and step in and help us continue to deliver the parts and components that we need.”
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