Veridian Credit Union Offers Interest-Free Loans to Striking John Deere Workers
The loans are meant to ease the financial burden caused by the ongoing labor strike.
More than 10,000 John Deere workers have been on strike in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia since Oct. 14 after the employees’ union, the United Auto Workers, rejected a contract offer from the company.
This week, the Waterloo, Iowa-based Veridian Credit Union ($5.6 billion in assets, 270,225 members) announced it will offer interest-free Financial Hardship Loans to current members who are among those John Deere employees on strike.
According to Veridian, “The loans are designed to ease the financial burden caused by income loss as a result of the current labor strike.” Loan amounts can go up to $1,000 with up to 12-month terms and the first loan payment isn’t due until 90 days from signing.
“Veridian was founded by John Deere employees who wanted to offer their coworkers an alternative to commercial banks and other for-profit financial institutions in 1934,” Veridian President/CEO Renee Christoffer said. “Today, we’re still a not-for-profit financial cooperative, and we’re still here to help.”
The credit union said the Financial Hardship Loans are eligible to Veridian members who joined the credit union no later than Oct. 20, 2021. “All Veridian members whose income is impacted by the current strike are also encouraged to complete the credit union’s Financial Hardship Form for a review of other assistance options,” Veridian said in a statement.
Financial Hardship Loan applications are available on the credit union’s website.