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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.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
