Racine Sun

Hundreds of union workers at a Case tractor factory in Racine remain on strike in a work-stoppage dispute that shows no signs of ending.

Nearly 700 members of the United Auto Workers Local 180 remain on the picket lines after first walking off the job nearly six months ago in a dispute over pay and benefits, WPR.org reported recently. As the strike has lingered, CNH Industrial is now employing replacement workers.

The strike comes as labor shortages have persisted in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, spurring workers in various sectors of the economy to demand better pay and benefits for themselves.

"I think workers feel like they learned something about their value during the pandemic, and they don't see that honored," Laura Dresser, associate director of the COWS economic think tank at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told WPR. She also noted that tight labor markets and the pandemic have put more power in the hands of workers.

In September, union workers rejected an offer that would have raised wages between 18 and 25% over the next three years and included three different health options, insisting that the deal would still leave them earning less than manufacturing workers in the area, who reportedly are being paid approximately $24 to $25 an hour.

With CNH factory workers in Burlington, Iowa, also out on strike, Racine workers are vowing to hang strong. The last work stoppage at the Racine location was nearly two decades ago, in 2004. After 19 days the workers called off the strike, but they have long contended that they suffered a major blow based on the contracts they accepted and have been fighting their way back up ever since.