The United Steelworkers (USW) International and its Local 207L today filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Cooper Tire alleging the company committed unfair labor practices in bargaining and imposing a lockout at its Findlay, Ohio tire plant. 

Cooper locked out 1,051 members of USW Local 207L on Nov. 29, 2011 at its profitable Findlay facility, despite the union’s good faith offer to keep working while negotiations toward a new labor contract proceeded.

The USW said that the centerpiece to the charges is the company’s demand that bargaining unit members ratify a contract absent the full details of an incentive plan that could possibly result in major wage cuts. Cooper insisted that its incomplete proposal would have to be accepted, ratified and implemented before necessary studies would be finalized. That meant workers would vote on a proposal not knowing if their wages were increasing or decreasing and by what amounts ... more