FINDLAY, Ohio—Unionized workers at a Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. tire plant in Ohio have reached a new tentative labor agreement.
News of the deal comes just two weeks after members of Local 207L of the United Steelworkers union rejected a previous proposed settlement for the Findlay facility.
A March 16 statement by the company indicates the tentative deal will run for four years.
"Details of the agreement are being withheld pending presentation to USW members. A ratification vote is expected to take place at the end of this week," Cooper said in a statement.
Workers voted down a previous proposed settlement 427-253 early in March. At that time, Local 207L President Brian Brubaker expressed hope to return to the bargaining table.
Workers and the company previously agreed the facility would remain operational under terms of the previous contract that expired Feb. 28. Both sides began labor discussions Jan. 16.
Local 207L represents almost 800 people at Cooper's Findlay plant.
Cooper is the fifth-largest tire manufacturer in North America, with 4.8 percent of the $48 billion market last year, according to Rubber & Plastics News' data. Globally, the company ranks No. 13 with sales of $2.8 billion in 2018.
The Findlay plant dates to 1914, and it has an estimated capacity to make 18,000 passenger and light truck tires a day.
Cooper also has manufacturing sites in Texarkana, Ark., and Tupelo, Miss. The Findlay location is the smallest of the three in terms of production, as the Arkansas location has an estimated capacity of 26,000 car and light truck units per day, and the Mississippi site has an estimated capacity of 37,000 passenger cars a day, according to RPN data.
Workers at the Texarkana plant ratified a new four-year labor agreement with Cooper in February 2019. The Tupelo plant is non-union.