It is a contract that workers apparently aren’t happy with, but after three long months Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has labor peace at its Findlay, Ohio, plant.
By a 627 to 321 vote, USW Local 207 members ratified a new five-year pact with the tiremaker, bringing to an end an acrimonious lock out that started after workers rejected an earlier tentative contract. Of the 1,050 workers at the plant, only 948 cast ballots during yesterday’s seven-hour vote.
The Findlay Courier posted a nine-page summary of the new contract online at http://goo.gl/ajtPr.
“Our brothers and sisters have once again made their voices heard,” said USW Local 207 president Rodney Nelson in a prepared statement issued by the USW. “As a committee, we are proud to have remained united and delivered a fair contract, despite Cooper’s best attempts to divide us.”
Still, the USW International offered their two cents: “Breaking federal labor laws, importing a temporary replacement workforce and demanding unfair and unreasonable wage and benefit cuts instead of negotiating in good faith are not the actions of a responsible corporate citizen,” said USW District 1 director Dave McCall.
The USW filed unfair labor practice charges against Cooper with the National Labor Relations Board shortly after the lockout began last November. That case is still pending. “We look forward to an answer from the NLRB on those charges,” McCall said. “Cooper will not escape accountability for its actions.”
On the other side, Cooper issued a brief statement confirming the vote and noting that it was pleased with the outcome. “While enormous time and effort was involved in reaching this labor agreement, leaders from the company and the Union share a belief that the new contract will enhance the competitiveness of Cooper’s Findlay tire plant through improvements in productivity,” the tiremaker said. “An orderly return-to-work plan will be communicated before the end of the week.”
The union workers, however, had their view. Local 207 president Nelson told the Courier that the Findlay contract is not the same as the contract USW workers at the tiremaker’s Texarkana, Ark., plant settled in January. “I’m not saying it’s better, but I don’t think it’s worse,” Nelson told the newspaper.
“We got the best contract we could. We’ve got to put the hard feelings behind us,” Nelson told the Courier. “Cooper is still our family.”
The newspaper noted the high level of “disappointment” at the union hall yesterday as the vote was being held.
“It’s a crock of s—," an unnamed worker told the Courier. Another offered, “It is what it is, you know. There’s nothing we can do about it now. The votes are all in. Everything’s all said and done with. I’m glad to go back to work, but we’ll see what happens in five years.”
