8 December, 2011The US tire and rubber company on November 28 announced that it would lock out 1,051 unionized workers at its plant in Findlay in the state of Ohio, USA. The United Steelworkers (USW) and its Local 207L condemned the move and on December 6 filed charges with the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) against the company for unfair labour practices in bargaining.
USA: Negotiations started well before the existing agreement expired on October 31, but no consensus could be reached. "The negotiations have been hindered considerably by Cooper's behaviour at the bargaining table and the company's determination to instigate a labour dispute," said USW District 1 sub-director Patrick Gallagher.
On November 27 workers in Findlay rejected a three-year proposal from the company by a vote of 606 to 305, and instead offered to extend the previous agreement. The company instead imposed its lockout.
The company had earlier offered to extend the expired contract for an additional year with no change in terms. USW agreed to an extension for 30 days while negotiations toward a new labour contract proceeded. Cooper however refused, saying that it would have placed the agreements at two of Cooper's major US facilities, in Findlay and in Texarkana, too close together. The collective agreement for the 1,500 employees at the Texarkana plant expires in the beginning of 2012, and the workers have already voted to give union leaders a strike mandate.
The centerpiece to the USW charges with the NLRB is the company's demand that bargaining unit members ratify a contract lacking the full details of an incentive plan that could result in major wage cuts. Cooper has insisted that its incomplete proposal is accepted, ratified and implemented before necessary studies are finalized. Workers would have to vote on a proposal not knowing if their wages were increasing or decreasing and by what amounts.
Other charges are that the company refuses to bargain by conditioning continuation of talks on the union moving from its current negotiating position; falsely declaring impasse; disparaging the union in meetings with bargaining unit members; and unilaterally changing conditions of employment by cancelling scheduled work and extending the Thanksgiving holiday shutdown until the lockout began on November 29.
The unfair practices also include the lockout itself and its continuation in support of a bargaining position tainted by the illegal labour practices cited in the charges.
Cooper Tire and Rubber has manufacturing facilities in four states in the USA and in England, Mexico and China. In 2010, Cooper Tire reported revenues of 3.4 billion US dollars, and the company employs nearly 13,000 people around the world. The Findlay facility is profitable.