MOLINE, Ill. - Contract talks between Deere & Co. and the United Auto Workers are under way.

Officials from the company and the UAW said Tuesday they had begun collective bargaining on a new master agreement covering about 9,500 employees at 15 John Deere facilities, including the five Waterloo operations.

The current contract, which has been in place since Oct. 1, 2003, expires at midnight Sept. 30.

Deere spokesman Ken Golden said the contract talks were not started earlier than planned.

After this announcement, the company and union leadership said they agreed not to make public comments on contract issues during negotiations.

"Our goal is an agreement that benefits our members, Deere & Co. and the communities where we work and live," UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said in a news release.

Settles directs the union's Agricultural Implement Department.

"We look forward to mutually beneficial discussions and a successful completion of the collective bargaining process," Ken Huhn, Deere's vice president of labor relations, said in the news release.

The Deere operations in Waterloo represented by the UAW/Deere Master Factory Agreement are the John Deere Waterloo Works; John Deere Engine Works; John Deere Waterloo Tractor, Cab Assembly Operations; John Deere Product Engineering Center; and John Deere Foundry.

Other locations are the John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Ill.; John Deere Seeding Group/Cylinder Division in Moline; John Deere North American Parts Distribution Center in Milan, Ill.; John Deere Davenport Works; John Deere Des Moines Works; John Deere Dubuque Works; John Deere Ottumwa Works; and parts depots in Atlanta and Denver.

The new agreement also will include Deere's Coffeyville, Kan., Works.