Potential strike looms at Wilson football factory in Ada

Union employees at Wilson Sporting Goods’ football factory in Ada are scheduled to vote Friday afternoon on whether to call a formal strike as their current labor agreement approaches expiration.

Workers United Local 1385 members have been conducting informational picketing outside the factory during their lunch breaks since Monday. The union is seeking improvements involving wages and benefits.

Local union president Derek Gibson has described Wilson’s current proposals as unfair and said workers could reject the contract presently on the table.

The strike vote is scheduled to take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday. The existing contract is scheduled to expire Friday night.

A vote favoring a strike would authorize or call for possible labor action, but it would not necessarily mean employees would immediately leave their jobs. The timing of any possible work stoppage has not been announced.

The Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board also filed an unfair-labor-practice charge against Wilson with the National Labor Relations Board on October 13. The open case alleges refusal to bargain or bad-faith bargaining.

The filing represents an allegation by the union and is not a finding that Wilson violated federal labor law. Wilson had not released a public response to the charge or potential strike as of Friday morning.

The Ada plant has manufactured leather footballs since 1955. Wilson says more than 120 craftspeople produce over 500,000 footballs there each year, including every official NFL game ball.

Wilson opened a new factory in Ada in 2024, nearly doubling its previous production capacity. The company announced in May that the new facility had produced its one-millionth football.

Specific details concerning the wage and benefit proposals have not been released publicly. The size of the bargaining unit and the possible effect of a strike on production also remain unclear.