Union to Educate Customers about Illegal Lockout at Tire
Kingdom, Other Retailers
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
United Steelworkers (USW) today said that on Sat., Feb. 25, 2012, thousands of union members
and supporters throughout the country will be distributing
information about Cooper Tire's (NYSE:CTB) unfair and illegal
lockout of 1,050 Findlay, Ohio,
workers at over 100 Tire Kingdom and other retail tire stores and
service centers throughout the country.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO)
The union is seeking to educate potential customers about the
lockout and to ask store owners and managers to sign onto a letter
asking Cooper CEO Roy Armes and
North American President Chris
Ostrander to end the lockout and return to the bargaining
table to negotiate with the USW in good faith for a fair
contract.
Store actions will take place nationwide and the union is
focusing on the Tire Kingdom chain because it is a major seller of
Cooper tires, though the union also plans to visit other stores.
For example, participants in the Journey for Justice, a joint
project of the USW and Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and
Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), will be educating
customers at National Tire and Battery, a Tire Kingdom subsidiary,
in Chicago as the 1,000-mile road
trip to call attention to employer lockouts continues its six-day
track from American Crystal Sugar's
home in Fargo, N.D., to Cooper's
corporate headquarters in Findlay.
The USW represents about 850,000 working men and women in
the United States and Canada in a wide variety of industries,
ranging from glass making to mining, paper, steel, tire and rubber
and other manufacturing environments to the public sector, service
and health care industries.
ATTN: Editors, Assignment Desks – Photo Opportunity,
Literature (hand-outs), Interviews
NOTE: - Contact tmontana@usw.org (or via telephone below)
for specific actions in your area.
Who: USW members and supporters
What: National Day of Action to support locked-out Cooper
Tire workers in Findlay, Ohio
When: Saturday, Feb., 25, 2012 – Times will vary by
location.
Where: Over 100 Tire Kingdom, Big O, Merchant and
other stores nationwide, including:
Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, Warren
and Findlay, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Portland, Maine; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Merrillville and Indianapolis, Ind.; Birmingham, Ala.; Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre, Penn.; Oklahoma City, Oak.; Dallas and Houston,
Texas; and Baton Rouge,
La.
More information, contact: Tony
Montana, USW – 412-562-2592
SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)