Steelworkers ratify Goodyear Engineered Products contract

Modern Tire Dealer, July 30, 2007

 

The Carlyle Group can proceed with its acquisition of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s Engineered Products division thanks to the United Steelworkers' ratification of a new labor contract with the company.

Four Engineered Products plants will become part of a new entity, EPD Inc., when the sale is finalized.

"Outstanding issues between USW International and Carlyle were resolved over the weekend," say union officials. "The issues related directly to establishing a secure trust fund for retiree health care completely separate from the one at Goodyear."

Carlyle was required to finalize a new labor deal with the Steelworkers before it could acquire the division. Carlyle intends to continue producing Goodyear brand hoses, belts and other products.

 

 

South Africa Goodyear, Tyre Strike Starts to Bite as Parties Stand Firm

Africa News, July 26, 2007

THE strike in the tyre manufacturing industry is starting to bite, with production affected adversely but both employers and unions are sticking to their guns with no resolution in sight.

Almost 4000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) out of the 7800 workers in the tyre industry downed tools over wages on Friday, demanding a 10% increase.

This comes after several rounds of negotiations failed to resolve the dispute with employers represented in the New Tyre Manufacturing Industry Association offering a 7% increase . Association chairman Basil Smith said employers had put a 7,5% salary increase on the table, linked to production improvements.

"We are producing the minimum number of tyres and it is difficult to gauge how much the industry is losing a day as a result of the strike. We have given union representatives our offer to go and consider," Smith said.

Romano Daniels, group communication manager at Bridgestone, said "we are unable to produce one tyre in our Brits and Port Elizabeth plants".

Goodyear PR manager Lize Hayward would give details on production.

 

South Africa Goodyear, Tire Strike Continues

Akron/Tire Review, July 25, 2007

 

The South African tire industry strike continued into its third day on July 24, with wage negotiations progressing slowly, according to the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA), which represents some 4,000 strikers at plants operated by Dunlop, Continental, Goodyear and Bridgestone.

Industry spokesperson Attie Higgs said progress had been made on several non-wage issues, but workers remain firm on their 10% wage increase demands. According to reports, Dunlop, Continental and Goodyear had made a 7.5% offer, while Bridgestone offered a 7% wage increase.

“We want to force employers to improve their offer because the industry has been reporting good profits over the past three years. We are hopeful of a significant wage increase,” a NUMSA spokesperson said.

Higgs refutes those claims, saying that there had been little growth and that, over the past three to four years, the industry marketshare had dropped as a result of imports.

Higgs said the short-term impact of the strike would be limited, but an extended strike would have severe implications.

 

Tire workers strike in South Africa

Akron Beacon Journal, July 24, 2007

Continental AG, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Corp. suspended production at their South African tire plants as workers went on strike for higher wages, a labor union said.

Employees at six tire factories stopped work in support of a 10 percent pay raise. Employers have offered a 7 percent increase, more than the annual inflation rate of 6.4 percent.

A spokesman for the National Union of Metalworkers said more than 5,000 were off the job.

 

 

Goodyear, union still at odds

Topeka Capital-Journal, July 19, 2007

Six months after Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers reached a national labor agreement, negotiations continue on a local supplemental contract that has implications for employees' work and vacation rules.

"Everybody in our membership thought this would be an easy deal, but it's proved harder," said Glenn Griffith, vice president of Local 307.

Griffith said the national deal, or "master agreement," sets the tone for such big-ticket items as wages and benefits, but it's up to local negotiators to work out the smaller points, like work rules and how overtime and vacation can be scheduled.

He said the union has been meeting with Goodyear since at least April.

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Goodyear, other tire companies risk South Africa strike

Akron Beacon Journal, July 18, 2007

Continental AG, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Corp. will face strikes at South African tire plants starting Friday after pay talks collapsed, a labor union said.

About 6,000 workers at six factories are demanding 10 percent raises, while employers are offering 7 percent, the Johannesburg-based National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. South Africa's inflation rate is 6.4 percent.

 

Ex-Goodyear unit, USW reach contract

Akron Beacon Journal, July 18, 2007

The United Steelworkers union has reached a tentative contract with the buyer of Goodyear's Engineered Products division.

In March, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced it planned to sell almost all of its Engineered Products business, which makes hoses and conveyor belts, to The Carlyle Group for $1.475 billion.

As part of the deal, Goodyear has agreed to let Carlyle use the Goodyear brand in connection with the Engineered Products business.

The division has about 6,500 employees worldwide in 32 countries, including about 500 at the Lincoln, Neb., production plant and more than 400 at a nonunion plant in Norfolk, Va.