(Adds background, comment from Goodyear spokesman)
CHICAGO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. , after marathon bargaining sessions with the United Steelworkers of America, on Wednesday said it reached a tentative labor contract covering 19,000 unionized workers at 14 U.S. plants.
The company did not specify whether the three-year contract involves plant closings or job cuts, which the union had sought to prevent.
But Goodyear spokesman Chuck Sinclair said the settlement, which is subject to a vote by the union's rank-and-file members, will enable the loss-making company to begin to restore profits.
"We've said all along that we need the financial flexibility and capability to start to turn the company around. The agreement provides that," Sinclair told Reuters.
Sinclair declined to comment on rumors in Internet chat rooms and reported by a local television station that the company plans to close a plant in Huntsville, Alabama, where it manufactures Dunlop brand tires.
Union officials also declined to comment on the rumored closing of the Huntsville plant, which employs about 1,100 Steelworkers members.
Goodyear, which has racked up $1.3 billion in losses over the past two years, and the Steelworkers union had been deadlocked for five months over issues involving job security, health benefits and how the company should restructure.
The union, in a separate news release, said its leaders would hold informational meetings at each plant before ratification votes are held.
The contract covers plants in Ohio, Alabama, New York, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin and North Carolina.