Des Moines Register: With the threat of a United Auto Workers strike looming, Deere & Co. managers told employees at factories across Iowa not to come in today, workers told the Des Moines Register. They said managers ordered third-shift employees in Waterloo not to report to work at their usual 11 p.m. start time. Employees at the company’s Ankeny and Ottumwa plants said Deere also canceled their second shifts, which start at 3:30 p.m., unless the UAW and the company reach a contract agreement sooner. Employees are working under a contract that expires Friday, but the UAW told Deere that its 10,100 members will go on strike Thursday morning if the two sides cannot reach a tentative agreement.