What I mean is: if they DIDN'T had DRM they could ignore the strike more easily, but they DRM made sure a lot of people will have serious issues if they don't raise wages, thus the DRM shifted power from execs hands to the employees.

Not that I don't favor a universal living wage, but price discovery for labor lives along a separate axis; the ability to withhold value (or the credible deterrent of doing so) is a bargaining chip that can be used in negotiation. This is true of every firm, be it an overseas sweatshop, an Amazon warehouse, or high-paid engineers in a tech giant.

Even if every John Deere employee made 3x of a "living wage" (relative to local costs), they'd still have every right to collectively bargain by withholding labor (to say nothing of non-monetary demands: autonomy, safety standards, flexible scheduling, etc).

I am curious if they are actually getting less than a living wage.

Quick googling suggests that they were making $20-$30 per hour before the strike. Another quick Google suggests that the average assembly line hourly rate is $19/hr (another source says only $14/hr).

It looks like the wages aren't out of line as far as livability, but it is understandably infuriating to see the company as a whole making tremendous profits while only paying slightly above average.

Is that pretty much the situation or did I miss something?

I live near one of their facilities on strike, though don't know any direct John Deere employees closely. From discussions I've read, a major component of the frustration is forced overtime.

I imagine John Deere probably ran similar to a company I used to work for. The order book was full, there was money to be made. 9-10 hour days Monday-Friday. Most Saturdays was mandatory overtime. The only way to guarantee you can do something over the weekend with your family is by taking PTO on Friday, which would get you out of overtime on Saturday.

Pair in that the last couple negotiations have been during downturns in farming, it's pretty reasonable that they're trying to make up ground after taking concessionary contracts.

> It looks like the wages aren't out of line as far as livability

i appreciate the data, though 1.) this is America - so workers have to deal with a lack of basic social services like in Europe, 2.) from my understanding the concessions made by John Deere were pitiful so far. an account from someone on the ground: https://twitter.com/JonahFurman/status/1456457606583758871

> but it is understandably infuriating to see the company as a whole making tremendous profits while only paying slightly above average.

yes exactly, that's the superior argument here.

although the best argument is the one about climate change, and how viable solutions are not profitable enough to capitalism in the short term. we need open source, modular tech like the Science for the People article argues.

"The current political economy is based on a false idea of “immaterial scarcity.” It believes that an exaggerated set of intellectual property monopolies – for [trade secrets], copyrights, trademarks and patents – should restrain the sharing of scientific, social and economic innovations. Hence the system discourages human cooperation, excludes many people from benefiting from innovation and slows the collective learning of humanity. In an age of grave global challenges, the political economy keeps many practical alternatives sequestered behind private firewalls or unfunded if they cannot generate adequate profits."

http://wealthofthecommons.org/essay/peer-peer-economy-and-ne...