FINDLAY, Ohio — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. and union leadership at Cooper's plant Findlay have agreed to terms for a tentative 4-year labor agreement with the company, two weeks after unionized workers at the plant rejected the company's first proposal.
The deal with Local 207L of the United Steelworkers union is designed to replace one that expired Feb. 28.
Workers represented by Local 207L are expected to vote on the revised deal at the end of this week, Cooper said.
Workers voted down a previous proposed settlement 427-253 early in March, and at that time Local President Brian Brubaker expressed hope to return to the bargaining table.
A Cooper spokeswoman previously said the company does not make extensive pubic comments on union negotiations.
While the previous tentative agreement was voted down, workers and the company 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 workers at the Findlay plant.
Cooper is the fifth-largest tire manufacturer in North America, with 4.8% of the $48 billion market last year, according to Tire Business' most recent data. Globally, the company ranks No. 13 with sales of $2.8 billion in 2018.
The Findlay plant opened in 1914 and has an estimated capacity to make 18,000 passenger and light truck tires a day.