Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has offered his help to end the more than month-old lockout at a Northwest Ohio tire plant.
Multiple news outlets report the Democrat gave a pep talk Monday to Cooper Tire workers gathered at a packed union hall in Findlay.
Brown says he knows the union members are eager to get back to work.
Cooper Tire & Rubber is based in Findlay. In late November it locked out more than 1,000 union members at a factory in its hometown after workers voted down a tentative three-year contract.
The last talks were held December 13. The union president says negotiations with the company will resume next week.