TEXARKANA, Ark. - Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. is planning to reopen its U.S. and Serbian manufacturing plants, including the Texarkana facility, which have been shuttered for weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The plants "will begin the process of reopening and ramping up production next week," according to a news release. A company spokesperson declined further comment Thursday.
A small number of employees is working in the plant this week, a larger number will be back beginning Monday, and by the middle of next week, "we'll have probably 85% to 90% of the plant back up and running," said Kerry Halter, president of United Steel Workers Local 752L, which represents Cooper employees in Texarkana.
Halter emphasized that the union has been working closely with Cooper to ensure reopening is as safe as possible. Union leadership toured the plant with members of management Thursday, and Halter said he was impressed by the steps taken to comply with health safety guidelines. Still, his concern for employee safety has left him ambivalent about reopening.
"I've got mixed emotions. I personally made my thoughts known to the company that I would have liked to have seen the plant down another couple of weeks, to help this (coronavirus) curve get further down the road.
"But we have obligations to our customer base, as well," Halter said. "It's a very fine line that we have to walk to keep the employees safe and also to continue to do our job."
Safety precautions in the reopened plants will include "required employee disclosures, increased cleaning and disinfecting of equipment, social distancing and physical barriers, visitor restrictions, and other measures," the release stated.
About 180 to 200 of the Texarkana plant's employees will remain out of work, Halter said. About 1,480 wage employees and 200 salaried employees normally work there.
"There will still be some employees furloughed because the heart and soul of our business is tire sales, and due to this pandemic, it's affected the tire sales. People aren't traveling as much. People are staying at home. So we are not ready to start the plant up at full capacity yet," he said.
Citing concerns for employees' safety, Cooper announced the temporary shutdown of its U.S. plants on March 22. In the U.S., Cooper operates plants in Findlay, Ohio, and Clarksdale and Tupelo in Mississippi, as well as in Texarkana.
The company's Serbian plant is in Kruevac. The Cooper plant in Melksham, England, remains temporarily closed. The company's plant in Mexico will close again April 28 after an April 13 reopening because it has been deemed a nonessential business by the Mexican government.
Cooper's distribution centers have remained open and will continue to do so.