BRYAN, Ohio — "The fight is always about the people."
So states the motto at United Steelworkers (USW) Local 890L on a sign outside the local chapter, a group of about 115 tire manufacturing workers for Titan International Inc. in a city of 8,500 in the northwest corner of the state.
Rather than a fight, diplomacy and compromise was the theme this time around for the workers in Bryan, as well as about 320 USW members in Des Moines, Iowa (Local 164L), and those at a third chapter in Freeport, Ill. (Local 745). The USW locals on Jan. 12 ratified three-year contracts with Titan.
The three separate contracts, covering more than 800 Titan workers, run from Nov. 16, 2021, to Nov. 16, 2024, and feature gains in wages and pensions, although health-care benefits remain status quo.
"Overall it's a good contract," Rick Hughart, president of Local 890L, told Rubber News, a sister publication of Tire Business.
"It's not phenomenal, as some memberships have pie-in-the-sky dreams. We'd hoped for better raises, we didn't get that.
"But all in all, people for the most part are pleased with it. It's a contract that will benefit younger guys in the long run rather than us old guys. But you gotta start somewhere."
Based in West Chicago, Ill., Titan International (comprising both Titan and Goodyear farm tire brands), offers wheels, tires and undercarriage products for a wide variety of off-the-road equipment.