Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming to Mount Pleasant on Friday to speak with CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since May 2

Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to visit Mount Pleasant on Friday to meet with hundreds of CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since May 2.

Sanders (D-Vermont) plans to visit the United Auto Workers Local 180 for a town hall event. It's unclear if other elected officials will participate.

Following the Mount Pleasant event, Sanders plans to go to Burlington, Iowa, to talk to CNH Industrial workers there who are also on strike.

Health insurance costs and wages are among the issues that the workers are striking over.

On May 1, the UAW and CNH Industrial agreed to extend the current collective bargaining agreement hour by hour as the parties tried to reach an agreement. But a day later, talks had soured and roughly 1,000 workers at the CNH Industrial facilities in Racine, and Burlington, Iowa, went on strike.

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Last week, Sanders along with Democratic Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and other senators, signed a letter sent to CNH Industrial CEO Scott Wine in support of the striking workers.

“After speaking with your workers, it is our understanding that your most recent proposal would cause health insurance deductibles for your workers to skyrocket to up to $6,400 and drastically increase out of pocket costs,” the letter reads.

“Beyond unaffordable health benefits, you have refused to offer workers fair pay for their hard work. Your proposal offers your lowest paid workers an average annual raise of just $1.33 per hour which is woefully inadequate and a substantial pay cut for many after adjusting for inflation and the massive new health benefit costs.”

CNH Industrial manufactures farm equipment and its portfolio includes Case IH, which is headquartered in Racine.

“UAW CNHi members have worked through the pandemic after the company deemed them essential, to produce the equipment that feeds America, builds America and powers the American economy,” UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement on the first day of the strike.

“They are a strong united union voice on the picket line.”

The two sides have continued to talk, but on May 24, the UAW released a statement saying the company “entered the negotiations with a predetermined bargaining strategy based on the principles of fear and intimidation.”

“After a month of offering little resolve to bargaining issues submitted by UAW members themselves, the UAW utilized the authority granted by an overwhelming majority of our membership and took strike action against CNH Industrial,” UAW stated.

“The company immediately deployed a scab workforce that they assembled prior to the contract deadline in anticipation of a strike that was quite predictable based on their posture at the bargaining table.”

CNH Industrial has not responded to requests for an interview. In the letter the senators wrote to Wine, it mentioned in 2021 CNH Industrial “made over $1.7 billion in profits.”

“If CNH can afford to provide you (Wine) with a $9.2 million signing bonus and nearly $22 million in total compensation for one year of work, nearly 8,000 times the raise you are offering some workers, it can afford to pay all of your workers better wages and better benefits,” the letter states. “If CNH can afford to spend over $100 million on stock buybacks over a six-month period to enrich its wealthy shareholders, it can afford to treat all of its workers with the dignity and the respect that they deserve.”

The last time Sanders was in Racine County was in 2018 when he endorsed Democrat  Randy Bryce in his race for the 1st Congressional District seat. Bryce lost to Republican Bryan Steil.

Sanders ran for president in 2016 but lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sen. Bernie Sanders to meet with striking CNH workers in Mt. Pleasant