Des Moines local to vote on Titan pact

DES MOINES, Iowa (Sept. 24)—United Steelworkers Local 164 at the Titan International Inc. tire plant in Des Moines will vote on a new contract Sept. 26 after questions regarding health insurance for spouses of retirees was worked out. Titan and the local reached a tentative agreement Sept. 7 and the union was to vote on it Sept. 18, but the polling was postponed until the items in dispute could be ironed out. Local 164 has been on strike since May 1, 1998. USWA Local 303 at the Titan plant in Natchez, Miss., still is scheduled to vote on its pact Oct. 2. Those workers have been off the job since Sept. 15, 1998.