UAW members protest layoffs, plant closures on Capitol Hill to stop greed

UAW Advocates for Change on Capitol Hill Amid Industry Challenges

WASHINGTON—Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) from the Agricultural Implements sector visited Capitol Hill this week to highlight the adverse effects of unfavorable trade agreements and address issues related to layoffs and plant closures in the agricultural implements and construction equipment sectors.

John Deere has moved production from Iowa to Mexico, resulting in significant job losses since 2023. Similarly, Caterpillar (CAT) is operating major facilities in Mexico, where labor issues are prevalent. Concurrently, CNH has announced the shutdown of its long-standing Burlington, Iowa plant.

UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson, overseeing the Agricultural Implements Department, remarked, “The American taxpayer and the American worker have invested millions of dollars and decades of blood, sweat, and tears to make these companies what they are today. To take that investment and kill American jobs to pay off Wall Street is a slap in the face to American workers, consumers, and taxpayers. DC needs to step up and stop corporate greed.”

Echoing these sentiments, UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell stated, “Executives at these companies think that the devastation of plant closures, lost jobs, broken homes, and the destruction of blue-collar communities are not their problem. But the UAW is going to make these decisions a major problem for these corporations and their Wall Street buddies. We’re in Washington, D.C. this week to make their corporate greed a problem for politicians across the Midwest—regardless of if they are a Democrat or Republican.”

During their visit, UAW members engaged with representatives from the offices of Representatives Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Ro Khanna (D-CA-17), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-1), and Ashley Hinson (R-IA-2), as well as Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS). The meetings extended to staff from the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The UAW representatives presented three primary demands to counteract the offshoring of jobs driven by corporate motivations:

1. Make it here to sell it here. They urged the Commerce Department to initiate a Section 232 investigation on imports of heavy equipment and machinery.
2. End the race to the bottom. The call was made to emphasize protections for heavy equipment manufacturing in the forthcoming USMCA review in July 2026, advocating for strong Rules of Origin, tariff rate quotas, and a sectoral minimum wage.
3. Job security. The demand included urging Congress to ensure companies like Deere, CAT, and CNH repatriate production and halt layoffs and closures.

Marcques Derby, UAW Local 807 Chairperson at CNH, stressed, “American manufacturers, built on American values, are making decisions every day to close and move plants without looking at the people and families that they are impacting. Politicians have a real say. Most of them take campaign contributions from companies that are offshoring good jobs held by their constituents. It’s our elected officials that need to utilize their voice—we elected them for that, didn’t we?”

Alongside this week's advocacy, numerous UAW members from across the nation have shared experiences regarding the detrimental impact of "free trade" and the pressing need for worker-focused trade policy reforms. The UAW International has also submitted detailed comments calling for significant changes to North American trade policies prioritizing the working class over corporate interests, accessible here. Moving forward, trade and the battle against mass layoffs will be pivotal in the UAW's 2026 electoral strategy, aiming to benefit UAW members and the broader working class.