I am sincerely hoping conservatives listen to Dick Chenney, "In our nation's 248 year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donal Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again. As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris." The question is are the conservatives reading this statement?
"Not if they (immigrants) run away out of sheer fear." If Trump wins, we might want to follow them--they might be able to teach us how to leave this country.
This tariff talk is unfortunate timing for us in Waterloo considering John Deere earnings are now projected to be down $3 billion, or 30 percent, for the fiscal year ending in October and the company has cut more than 1,000 jobs companywide, 345 of them in Waterloo. This is a contrast from three to four years ago when Deere held several hiring fairs in Waterloo coming out of the pandemic. In June 2022 Deere announced it will be moving tractor cab assembly operations from Waterloo to Mexico. Now, some of that work loss will be offset by the introduction of new tractor product lines here. But if Trump thinks tariffs are going to force companies to keep that work here, well.... not if those tariffs are more than offset by the lower wages and benefits the companies can pay workers overseas and outside America.
Moving more work out of the country also could be viewed as a hedge against a strike the next time the company's master labor agreement with the United Auto Workers comes up for renegotiation. UAW Local 838 in Waterloo, one of the largest manufacturing locals in Iowa with roughly 2,700 members prior to the recent layoffs, voted against every contract proposal during a strike in late 2021 but was ultimately outvoted by other locals within the Deere chain and the strike was settled. Moving work overseas potentially diminishes a holdout union local's influence.
"Our commitment to our customers is at the heart of everything we do," Deere CEO John May said at the company's third-quarter earnings release in August. But a company can only cut so much and displace so many people before it commits some portion of those tariff costs to customers in higher prices, potentially compounding a decline in sales and triggering even more job cuts.
Finally, regarding immigration, Northeast Iowa saw the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history up to that time at the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in Postville in 2008 when nearly 400 workers were arrested. Waterloo's National Cattle Congress grounds became a mass detention ad adjudication area for the detained workers and was picketed by rights organizations and those in the Latino community whose suggested their people were targeted. If such an enforcement happens under a second Trump administration, given the tenor of his current campaign rhetoric, we will have to be very very careful such an action does not deteriorate into a de facto pogrom against Latinos or any other ethnicity or race.
I am sincerely hoping conservatives listen to Dick Chenney, "In our nation's 248 year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donal Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again. As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris." The question is are the conservatives reading this statement?
"Not if they (immigrants) run away out of sheer fear." If Trump wins, we might want to follow them--they might be able to teach us how to leave this country.
Great recap Art.
This tariff talk is unfortunate timing for us in Waterloo considering John Deere earnings are now projected to be down $3 billion, or 30 percent, for the fiscal year ending in October and the company has cut more than 1,000 jobs companywide, 345 of them in Waterloo. This is a contrast from three to four years ago when Deere held several hiring fairs in Waterloo coming out of the pandemic. In June 2022 Deere announced it will be moving tractor cab assembly operations from Waterloo to Mexico. Now, some of that work loss will be offset by the introduction of new tractor product lines here. But if Trump thinks tariffs are going to force companies to keep that work here, well.... not if those tariffs are more than offset by the lower wages and benefits the companies can pay workers overseas and outside America.
Moving more work out of the country also could be viewed as a hedge against a strike the next time the company's master labor agreement with the United Auto Workers comes up for renegotiation. UAW Local 838 in Waterloo, one of the largest manufacturing locals in Iowa with roughly 2,700 members prior to the recent layoffs, voted against every contract proposal during a strike in late 2021 but was ultimately outvoted by other locals within the Deere chain and the strike was settled. Moving work overseas potentially diminishes a holdout union local's influence.
"Our commitment to our customers is at the heart of everything we do," Deere CEO John May said at the company's third-quarter earnings release in August. But a company can only cut so much and displace so many people before it commits some portion of those tariff costs to customers in higher prices, potentially compounding a decline in sales and triggering even more job cuts.
Finally, regarding immigration, Northeast Iowa saw the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history up to that time at the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in Postville in 2008 when nearly 400 workers were arrested. Waterloo's National Cattle Congress grounds became a mass detention ad adjudication area for the detained workers and was picketed by rights organizations and those in the Latino community whose suggested their people were targeted. If such an enforcement happens under a second Trump administration, given the tenor of his current campaign rhetoric, we will have to be very very careful such an action does not deteriorate into a de facto pogrom against Latinos or any other ethnicity or race.