“Since 2023, John Deere has laid off hundreds of workers and offshored multiple products from Iowa to Mexico. Caterpillar (CAT) operates three major manufacturing facilities in Mexico, with rampant labor abuses, driving a race to the bottom. And this month, CNH announced plans to close its Burlington, Iowa plant after nearly a century of operations,” the UAW said.

“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,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, “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.”

UAW members in D.C. met with 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). They also met with the offices of Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS). In addition to the members of Congress, workers also met with staff from the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

In their meetings, UAW members stated “three core demands for how to better navigate the offshoring of midwestern jobs by corporate greed.”

1. Make it here to sell it here. UAW members are calling for the Commerce Department to launch a new Section 232 investigation into imports of heavy equipment and machinery.
2. End the race to the bottom. UAW members are demanding the United States Trade Representative to prioritize protections for heavy equipment manufacturing in the July 2026 review of the USMCA, including strong Rules of Origin, tariff rate quotas, and a sectoral minimum wage.
3. Job security. UAW members are demanding members of Congress pick a side and make sure Deere, CAT, and CNH return production from abroad and stop the layoffs, offshoring, and plant closures.