These employees are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, which had been negotiating a new contract with John Deere for several months.

[7] On October 1, the existing contract between the union and company expired, but the two sides agreed to a temporary extension while negotiations continued.

[8] Despite UAW negotiators stating that the deal would result in "the highest quality health care benefits in the industry" and "significant economic gains" for the workers,[9] on October 10, union members voted by over 90 percent to reject the contract proposal.

[10] Additionally, the contract maintained the workers' premium-free health care plan,[8] included a cost of living adjustment, and guaranteed a retirement bonus of up to $50,000.

[15] A company spokesperson said that they were looking to resolve the strike and stated, "Our immediate concern is meeting the needs of our customers, who work in time-sensitive and critical industries such as agriculture and construction".

[17] Shortly after the strike began, many elected officials and candidates in the Iowa Democratic Party voiced their support for the strikers.

[19] On October 16, KWQC-TV reported that many small businesses in the Quad Cities area (where several of the John Deere plants are located)[20] were offering discounts, and in some cases, free food for strikers.

[22] Several days later, on October 22, ABC News reported that a GoFundMe campaign organized to help the strikers had accumulated more than $80,000 in donations from over 2,000 donors over a four-day period.

[23] On the morning of October 27, a striking worker who was reporting to the picket line outside the Milan plant was killed in a traffic accident outside the facility.

[24] Following the incident, Curry stated that the striker had "made the ultimate sacrifice in reporting to picket for a better life for his family and coworkers" and ordered the UAW flag to fly at half-staff for the day.