Cooper in Lawsuit with USWA

Cooper in Lawsuit with USWA

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) is to be tied up in yet another lawsuit, this time with Cooper Tire & Rubber. A grievance has been filed to delay the sale of the company’s Cooper-Standard Automotive division to the Cypress Group and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.

Legal action is being taken on behalf of the 1,500 USWA members that work in four of the division’s plants across America.

Whilst the USWA maintains that it does not object to the sale it wants the opportunity to negotiate with the new buyer in accordance with change of ownership agreements. Medical insurance, pension, legacy and other costs are some of the issues under debate. “We want the opportunity to negotiate with the buyer,” said a union spokesman.

“Under current labour agreements, it is agreed that Cooper would sell USWA-represented plants only to new owners who had reached new labour agreements with the union prior to the sale,” the USWA wrote in a recent press release. “Cooper had recently argued that this understanding does not apply to the announced sale, affecting four USWA-represent plants, because it will involve a stock transaction rather than a sale of assets. The union believes that the labour agreements expressly cover this kind of stock transaction and that Cooper backtracked on the change of ownership provisions of the agreements. Cooper has refused to arbitrate the dispute, forcing the union to sue in federal court to enforce its right to arbitration prior to a sale.”

Cooper is disagreeing with the union’s interpretation of the agreements.