Moline, Illinois - The third time was the charm for John Deere workers, who voted on Tuesday to ratify a new contract after voting down two previous offers.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said its 10,000 members ratified a new six-year contract offer 61% to 39%, the Washington Post reported.

The yes vote ended the first strike at the company since 1986. Sparked by the pandemic, the month-long walkout was emblematic of the rising wave of labor activism hitting the US this fall.

"UAW John Deere members did not just unite themselves, they seemed to unite the nation in a struggle for fairness in the workplace. We could not be more proud of these UAW members and their families," the union said in a statement.

Workers achieved a lot with their strike. When their last contract was set to expire, John Deere came in offering only 5-6% wage increases with another 3% raise in 2023 and 2025. They also wanted to cut pensions for new hires, even as the company was reaping record profits.

The second contract offer, which was voted down 55% to 45%, put forward 10% wage increases, 5% additional raises in 2023 and 2025, and an $8,500 ratification bonus.

In the end, the latest deal proposed the same wage increases but also included improvements on how bonuses are calculated and brought back cost of living adjustments.

Though workers did not eliminate the company's two-tier system, which provides significantly lower pension and healthcare benefits to workers hired after 1997, they did succeed in stopping the creation of a third tier, which would have seen new workers' pensions removed entirely.

They might not have gotten everything they wanted, but John Deere workers certainly proved the power of collective bargaining.