Cooper Tire Reports Higher 4Q Profit, Resolves Labor Dispute

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. reported a fourth-quarter profit and said it reached agreement with the United Steelworkers union ending a three-month lockout at an Ohio plant.

USW Local 207L ratified five-year labor agreement covering more than 1,000 workers at Cooper’s Findlay, Ohio, plant, ending a lockout that started in late November.

Union members voted 627-321 in favor of the agreement, Cooper said.

The tire maker’s fourth-quarter net income from continuing operations jumped to $209 million, or $3.33 a share, from $40.2 million, or 64 cents a share, a year ago.

Sales rose 14% to $1.05 billion. North America tire sales rose 16% to $778 million, while international tire sales rose about 10% to $376 million.