FREEPORT, Ill. — Titan International Inc. and the United Steelworkers union (USW) have reached a tentative, five-year labor agreement covering union locals at its plants in Des Moines, Iowa; Bryan, Ohio; and Freeport.
The deal is pending ratification by the USW, according to a March 24 statement posted on the website of Local 745 at Freeport. The other locals covered are Local 164 in Des Moines and Local 890 in Bryan.
The USW is coordinating meetings and will establish vote dates in the coming days, according to the statement.
Neither side was available for comment.
The pact is a result of another round of negotiations, which took place the week of March 12 in Indiana. Local 745 said USW officials and Titan CEO Paul Reitz came together on an agreement after a two-hour session on March 23.
The main sticking points were health care costs and wage increases. The tentative deal provides wage increases of 1.5 percent in the final three years of the deal and keeps the health care cost split at 80-20. No further details were provided.
Earlier statements on Local 745's website said Titan's previous offers did not include wage increases and increased the cost of health care in the final three years.
The two sides had been operating off the previous contract since it expired Jan. 13.
Chris Sweeney is the News Editor at Rubber & Plastics News, an Akron-based sister publication of Tire Business.