Following the failure of Cooper Tire and the United Steelworkers to reach an agreement on a new long-term contract for unionised workers at Cooper’s Findlay, Ohio factory, the tyre maker announced on 28 November an immediate lockout of USW members at the facility.
Despite news to the contrary, Tire Review shares that union workers at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s hometown Findlay, Ohio, plant still do not have a new contract with the tyre maker.
Findlay, Ohio-based news source The Courier states that Cooper Tire & Rubber reached a tentative three-year labour agreement on 23 November with the representative chapter of the United Steelworkers union, Local 207L. No specific information has been disclosed about the agreement, which covers unionised workers at Cooper’s Findlay factory and succeeds the old agreement that expired on October 31. Local 207L members will meet on 26 November to hear details of the agreement and a vote on the deal will take place the following day.
Negotiations on a new labour agreement for unionised workers at Cooper Tire & Rubber’s Findlay, Ohio factory failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion before the existing agreement’s expiry on October 31, and local newspaper The Courier says talks between the tyre maker and United Steelworkers representatives are still ongoing.
Campaigning for the next US presidential election is underway, and even candidates’ positions on tyre-related issues are being held up to the light for further examination. One candidate to find this out is Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, who has been criticised by United Steelworkers (USW) International president Leo W. Gerard over inconguencies between current campaign claims and his previous position on Chinese tyre tariffs.
The United Steelworkers has described a decision made by the Appeals body of the World Trade Organization as “a slap in the face to US workers and industries that are harmed by China's predatory trade practices.” The decision reverses the findings of a WTO panel report from last year on anti-dumping and countervailing duty proceedings for off-road tyres and a number of other products from China; specifically, the WTO states the US Department of Commerce acted erroneously by simultaneous levying both anti-dumping and countervailing duties on these products.
While Michelin North America officially says it has not committed to expanding its Woodburn, Indiana tyre plant, behind the scenes it has secured tax breaks to make that investment happen, reports Tire Review. The Allen County Council unanimously supported tax breaks, voting last week to provide incentives worth between $50 million to $75 million to the tyre-maker.
The United Steelworkers (USW) has extended its contracts with Titan Tire at facilities in Bryan, Ohio, Des Moines, Iowa, and Freeport, Illinois, while negotiations for a new contract proceed.
Both sides reported progress in the current negotiations, but that there is much left to accomplish. As a result, the parties reached an agreement to extend the current contracts through 17 December so that negotiations may continue.
Sales at Titan International amounted to US$222.8 million during the third quarter of the 2010 financial year, representing a year-on-year increase of 57 per cent. This improved result was accompanied by a gross profit of $27.9 million and a net income of $4.0 million. Year-to-date, the company’s sales have increased 12 per cent year-on-year to $648.9 million, while net income has reached $10.8 million.
Titan Tire and the United Steelworkers Union are to negotiate a new contract covering Titan’s three US tyre plants, reports Tire Review. Union representatives from Titan plants in Bryan, Ohio; Freeport, Illinois; and Des Moines, Iowa, are in Merrillville, Indiana, where the talks will be held. The USW contract with Titan that expires on 19 November lasted four and a half years.
In the US, Yokohama Tire and the United Steelworkers failed by exactly seven minutes to secure a last-minute deal regarding the tyre maker’s Salem, Virginia factory. Following a series of negotiations that began in March, a tentative agreement for a new, four-year contract was reached eight minutes before the existing contract’s expiry on May 16.
US based industrial tyre manufacturer Denman Tire Corporation has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Ohio, reports Tire Review. This action ends an almost two-year struggle to stay afloat in the face of a brutal economy and heavy pressure from imported tyres.
Local media are reporting that USW workers at Denman Tire Corporation’s lone plant in Leavittsburg, Ohio have been told that the troubled tyre-maker is out of money and its banks are not extending credit. 200 union workers met late last week for an explanation of why they were sent home earlier this month and instructed to not return until further notice.
The United Steelworkers of America says it has “complete faith” that the World Trade Organization will uphold the US government’s imposition of an added tariff to consumer tyres imported from China. The WTO has acted on an appeal from China to investigate the three-year, tiered added tariffs imposed on China-made consumer tyres last September. The tariffs – 35 per cent for the first year, 30 per cent the second, and 25 per cent for the third – came on top of an existing four per cent standard import tariff.
Workers at Bridgestone Americas’ truck tyre plant in La Vergne, Tennesee, are voting on a new contract, one that reportedly brings an across-the-board $2.50 per hour pay cut. In return, USW Local 1055 will get a guarantee that Bridgestone will keep the plant open at least another four years. The results of the vote will be announced sometime after Thanksgiving.
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