both LasVegasDave and Flutters.
Posted on 11/29/2011 4:23:21 AM PST by TSgt
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. began a lockout of its 1,050 unionized workers Monday after they rejected a proposed new labor contract.
Cooper plans to keep making tires at the Findlay plant with temporary workers, the company said. It did not disclose how.
United Steelworkers Local 207L President Rod Nelson said the company has enlisted Strom Engineering and Strom Strategic Consulting of Minnetonka, Minn., a "labor contingency" firm, according to Strom's website. Cooper also is getting help from temporary employment agencies, Nelson said.
"They're paying these workers a lot more than they're paying their employees," Nelson said. "It's kind of sad."
Nelson feared Cooper might make the move when earlier Monday it kept workers out of the plant. He was skeptical when the company initially said the work stoppage was merely an extension of a Thanksgiving shutdown.
But when the company later called the stoppage a lockout, Nelson was still stunned.
"I'm in a state of shock," Nelson said minutes after getting official word late Monday afternoon. "I hope we can come to some kind of agreement. I am optimistic we would."
Union members on Sunday voted 606-305 against a proposed pact negotiated last week by Cooper management and union representatives. Details of the proposed agreement have not been released.
With or without a labor agreement, with or without its unionized workers, Cooper said it is determined to make tires in Findlay.
"While certain production adjustments may be necessary in the short term, Cooper will continue to supply its customers with the quality products they have come to expect," the company said. "Cooper is committed to making every effort to support its customers during this labor action."
Fear of losing customers as a result of a production decline is on management's minds. The labor contract at Cooper's Texarkana, Ark. plant expires in mid-January, and the company wants to avoid having simultaneous work stoppages at both plants.
At Findlay, "The company advanced several options to avoid the contract overlap that is looming, including a last, best and final proposal for a new long-term contract and an offer to extend the recently expired contract for an additional year with no change in terms," Cooper stated. "The United Steelworkers was unwilling to extend the contract more than 30 days, which would have placed the labor agreements at two of Cooper's major U.S. facilities even closer together."
Nelson said he assured Cooper that Findlay workers would not strike.
"That's not what we want. That's not what we're after. Our strategy is to request to get back to the table to reach a mutual agreement, a fair contract," Nelson said. "We'll offer a no-strike clause, if that's what's needed. I pledged to the company we won't strike. It's my personal pledge."
He said most Findlay production workers disliked the company's new contract offer and were not enamored of the last three-year contract, which expired Oct. 31. It included $30 million in pay and benefit concessions, made under the cloud of the company's announced plans in 2008 to close a U.S. plant. Ultimately, Cooper closed its Albany, Ga., plant.
"We've still got a lot of problems with the last contract," Nelson said.
Cooper said it has not given up on talking with the union.
Cooper is "committed to reaching an agreement with the (union) that recognizes the realities of the tire industry while providing a competitive wage and benefit package for its employees," the company said. "Dates for future negotiations are currently being finalized."
I might, I go out of my way to buy non-union products.
Sounds like my last set of Coopers. Love those.
Not too shabby for the 1/2 of the population that is below average.
But what I didn’t know is that you shouldn’t keep tires that long.
I love my newest Coopers they are good for 50,000 miles which at the rate I drive should be forever. :-0)
Why would you stop buying Coopers?
Unless something happens to their quality, I will stick with the Coopers.
This is not gonna end well.
The area has high unemployment and many people will be tempted to take the temp jobs.
Yet it is too close to Detroit and that vast reservoir of union thuggery. And Richie Trumka is just dying to turn back the clock to the old head-bustin’ days.
This is gonna get ugly.
Obama Slaps tariffs on Chinese tires
2009
President Barack Obama on Friday slapped punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China
2009 President Barack Obama signed off on higher tire tariffs. http://www.google.com/search?q=Obama+tire+tariffs&hl=en&tbo=1&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=off&tbs=
Goodyear’s Union City, Tenn., plant to close, eliminating 1,900 jobs
Memphis Commercial Appeal ^ | February 10, 2011 at 10:45 p.m. | By Tom Bailey Jr.
I guess it’s a surprise that it happened as soon as it happened, but we all had known because of its unprotected status that something like this could happen,” Mayor Terry Hailey said.
He referred to the last contract agreement between Goodyear and the United Steelworkers, which didn’t protect the plant from shutting down.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2673135/posts
Very true, but think what that does to costs of production. Also, in a perfect world, a union representation vote should be a 50-50 tie if workers really know their worth. To me, this means more than 50% don’t see themselves as above average or are willing to “slide by” with less effort.
Matter of fact, that caused the creation of the plant where I worked.
Management took a bias tire plant’s equipment and made it into an industrial products venture.
We made conveyor belts, low and medium pressure hose, automotive hoses, and ducting.
BTW, I stopped buying Cooper when the Georgia plant closed and Sarko took over in France. I went back to Michelin. However, given this latest news of union busting by Cooper, I may give their tires another look.
The refinery I worked for had just installed a vacuum fractionator to clip the light ends of our resid which was barely 150 flash. The fraction was about 500 bbls/day and had many of the properties of rubber processing oil, except that it was heavier.
We thought one of the smaller tire companies might have interest but none showed interest unless we made an exact duplicate to the existing line.
Surprisingly, the Good Year lab in Akron tried a tank car of the stuff, manufactured tires with it and ran a 100,000 mile test on a taxi fleet with good results.
When we got down to the factory level, another objection was raised because our oil wasn’t exactly like the Exxon product. The fraction was then moved into oil well workover line and this was a success in Canada. We soon discovered that the product was “hot” and could cause skin injury. The 500 bbls/day was then dumped into the N2 pool and it disappeared as fuel.
The tire study was of some use as we identified an industry we wanted nothing to do with...
Tire makers have to deal with the DOT.
Rubber compounders tend to be Luddites as well. It is aggravating developing stuff that works in production AND products. Goodyear was probably the only company around who had the research capacity to pull it off, and the production end killed it.
If you still have that stuff, contact some industrial products makers.
Keep bringing in temps and keep production going and keep the union thugs locked out, freezing their butts off. Total idiots. Cooper should close and move to non-union states assuming the Pro National Labor Relations Boards keeps its partisan nose out of it.
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