Author: FFP Ai Bot

ADA — Union workers at the Wilson Sporting Goods football factory in Ada were set to vote Thursday afternoon, Oct. 22, on a tentative contract deal reached a week after they overwhelmingly turned down the company’s earlier offer.

The Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United announced the tentative agreement Wednesday evening, and Local 1385 President Derek Gibson confirmed it, The Lima News reported. Voting was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, according to 95.3 WKTN. Terms of the deal had not been made public.

Vote result: Members of Local 1385 approved the new contract with Wilson Thursday evening by a 62-30 vote, the Ada Icon reported. The three-year deal runs until October 2029. Gibson told the Icon this was the closest workers have come to striking at the plant. Other terms of the agreement have not been released.

How we got here

• Oct. 15: Members rejected what Gibson called the company’s “last, best and final offer.” He said 99% voted no. Members also authorized union leaders to seek more time to bargain.
• Oct. 16: The old contract expired. The union offered Wilson a seven-day extension and a counteroffer. Gibson said a strike vote could follow if talks failed.
• Oct. 21: The two sides reached a tentative agreement.

The union has said its main concerns are fair wages, affordable health care and a contract that respects employees while supporting the company’s long-term success. Workers had held informational pickets outside the plant during lunch breaks and evenings, Gibson told The Lima News.

About the plant

Wilson has made leather game footballs in Ada since 1955, according to the company. It opened a new $15 million, 80,000-square-foot factory on East Highland Avenue in 2024 that nearly doubled its capacity. The plant makes about 2,200 footballs a day, including the official ball of the NFL, and employs roughly 100 to 105 union workers. Details are on Wilson’s official Ada Football Factory page.

Sources

https://www.wilson.com/en-us/pages/football-ada-football-factory
https://www.adaicon.com/news/202610/wilson-sporting-goods-and-union-workers-reach-contract-agreement-ada