Goodyear factory to close with loss of 600 jobs

The Age, June 26, 2008

Cheap foreign imports have been blamed for the closure of a Melbourne tyre factory with the loss of almost 600 jobs.

In another blow for Australia's struggling automotive industry, South Pacific Tyres (SPT), based at Somerton, north of Melbourne, will shut its doors on December 31.

Chief executive Judith Swales said the factory had become unviable and could not compete with imports when production costs overseas were up to six times cheaper.

She admitted that parent company Goodyear had imported cheaper products from China and other markets, but said SPT could not keep going because consumer needs had changed.

Rival tyre producer Bridgestone said the move would leave it as the only tyre manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand.

Ms Swales said a lack of cost competitiveness was a key factor in not proceeding with a $150 million upgrade of the SPT site.

"Given the cost, the magnitude of an upgrade that we would need to put in place, we don't have the volume, the capacity, in this market," she told reporters in Melbourne.

In a statement issued by Goodyear from its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, chairman and chief executive Robert Keegan said closing the SPT plant would save Goodyear about $36.5 million a year.

Many employees hit by the decision have young families and mortgages. Others have been with the company for 30 years and could struggle to find other work.

Alf Chetcuti, who has worked for the company for 20 years, said the closure would hit workers when they went home to their families.

"That's when it hits you that at the end of year, you will be out of a job," said Mr Chetcuti, 38, who has two children aged seven and nine months.

Phil Brilliant, 52, who has been with the company for 30 years, said: "It's a kick in the teeth, I'm really disappointed".

Union leaders called on the federal government to act urgently to save Australia's auto manufacturing industry.

SPT's demise follows the announcement earlier this month that more than 531 jobs would go at Holden's Fisherman's Bend plant in Melbourne next year.

It also comes after Ford last year announced it would axe up to 600 jobs at its Geelong plant from 2010.

Holden axed 600 jobs in Adelaide last year and Mitsubishi cut 100 jobs in Adelaide in February.

National Union of Workers (NUW) Victorian secretary Antony Thow said a major review of the Australian car industry - headed by former Victorian premier Steve Bracks - was welcome, but the federal government needed to do more.

Mr Thow said Goodyear had moved prematurely in announcing the closure before the Bracks review.

"It's very important we support manufacturing workers. They're highly paid, highly skilled jobs," he told Sky News.

Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr said the closure was a sign of the challenges facing the Australian car industry.

"This is exactly why we are running an extensive review of the industry, being conducted by Steve Bracks, to establish the right policies to ensure a stable future for automotive manufacturing in this country," he said.

SPT said all employee entitlements would be honoured under their enterprise bargaining agreement.

Under the collective agreement, employees would on average receive 18 months' pay, said plant manager Gary Rowley.

Goodyear has about 70,000 employees in more than 60 factories in 26 countries.

Turkey's 14-Day Rubber Strike Ends with 14% First year Wage Gain

ICEM InBrief, June 16, 2008

A 14-day tyre strike by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Lastik-İş in Turkey ended Friday night, 13 June, and workers at three multinational rubber companies were back on their jobs for the afternoon shift on 14 June.

The strike ended when a two-year accord was reached between the union and the three employers, who jointly represent the tyre industry in talks. The companies include Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, and Pirelli.

The 13 June bargaining was the first set of negotiations since the strike began on 31 May. Talks first began on a renewal labour agreement for 2008-2009 at the four tyre factories in September 2007.

The two sides agreed to a 14% pay increase for the year 2008, and an increase equaling the Turkish rate of inflation for 2009. In 2007, the Turkish rate of inflation was 8.39% and is expected to rise above that this year. Lastik-İş had sought a 12% wage hike for the first six months of 2008, with increases matching the inflation rate in each six-month period through 2009.

All levels of social benefits will also increase by the inflation rate over the life of the labour agreement. The ICEM considers the 2008-2009 Turkish rubber agreement a major achievement, considering wage and social benefit gains were stymied in the late 1990s and early years of this decade due to strike bans imposed by the Turkish government.

“We didn’t make any concessions, we preserved our contractual and work-rule provisions, and we posted substantial economic gains,” stated Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. “The decisiveness of our union members at these four factories was effective and ultimately proved successful in bargaining.”

The four tyre plants, which saw workers return to work at 16h00 on 14 June, include: two of US-based Goodyear in Izmit and Adapazari, and one each operated by Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, a joint venture between Japan-based Bridgestone and the Turkish Sabanci Group, and by Italian-based Pirelli. Both of the latter two are located in the city of Izmit.

 

Goodyear Announces 110 More Layoffs in Tyler

Tyler Morning Telegraph, June 12, 2008

Goodyear has announced to the United Steelworkers Union that it will lay
off about 110 people - about two-thirds - of the workforce remaining at
its Tyler plant between Aug. 6 and Aug. 19.

A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice sent
to the union stated the "permanent mass layoff has been necessitated by
a lack of work at the plant."

Amy Brei, Goodyear spokeswoman, said about 60 employees will be left.

"There has been a decrease in the requirements needed for that rubber
from Tyler," Ms. Brei said of the Tyler plant, which retained its mixing
operation after a mass layoff at the end of last year.

During the last contract negotiations between the company and the USW,
the union struggled to keep the Tyler plant open, and the three-year
master contract guaranteed the Tyler plant would be kept open through
Dec. 31, 2007.

The company, however, ceased tire production there, reduced the plant's
employee base by several hundred and retained the plant as a
rubber-mixing operation.

"I feel like this is a further reduction toward the total closure of the
plant," USW Local President Harold Sweat said Thursday.

The union's master contract, which expires in July 2009, requires the
company to shut down the Canadian Valleyfield plant before it closes the
Tyler plant, Sweat said.

Husband of woman killed in plant blast criticizes managers

AP Wire, June 12, 2008

A Goodyear retiree whose wife was found dead at the company's plant
hours after an early morning explosion said Wednesday rescue workers
should have searched sooner and more thoroughly for her.

The body of Gloria McInnis, 55, a production supervisor at the plant,
was found under debris about seven hours after the 7:30 a.m. blast in a
heat exchange unit at the plant, said Goodyear spokesman Scott Baughman.

Her husband, Raymond McInnis, who worked at the plant for 38 years,
questioned the methods used by plant officials to find his wife's body.

"They let her lay there seven hours," McInnis told the Houston
Chronicle. "Was she dead at the time (of the explosion), or did she die
later?"

Baughman did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press
seeking comment on McInnis's complaints, but he told the Chronicle,
"Those are some of the issues we're looking into this morning."

Gloria McInnis had been a Goodyear employee for 32 years. Her husband,
71, retired 12 years ago.

Six others were injured during the incident. Five other workers were
treated and released for injuries after the incident and a sixth was
being held for observation.

The explosion also caused a small release of ammonia, which is used as a
refrigerant to cool processed liquids.

The six injured were treated on-site by the plant's medical team before
being transferred to local hospitals. Baughman said the damage and small
ammonia spill were contained in a small area of the plant, which makes
synthetic rubber for the production of tires.

The plant was evacuated for several hours after the explosion. About 200
people were in the plant at the time.

There was no danger to the public, plant officials said.

The plant was given an "all-clear" around 11 a.m., when employees were
allowed back in to the facility.

Plant officials were investigating the cause of the explosion and trying
to determine how much ammonia was spilled.

Worker killed, 6 hurt in Houston plant explosion

AP Wire, June 12, 2008

A chemical plant worker was killed and six others injured during an early morning explosion and ammonia leak Wednesday at the Goodyear Houston plant.

The body of the worker, whose name was not released, was found under debris about seven hours after the 7:30 a.m. blast in a heat exchange unit at the plant, said Goodyear spokesman Scott Baughman.

Five of the workers have been treated and released and a sixth was being held for observation.

The explosion also caused a small release of ammonia, which is used as a refrigerant to cool processed liquids.

The six injured were treated on-site by the plant's medical team before being transferred to local hospitals. Baughman said the damage and small ammonia spill were contained in a small area of the plant, which makes synthetic rubber for the production of tires.

The plant was evacuated for several hours after the explosion. About 200 people were in the plant at the time.

There was no danger to the public, plant officials said.

The plant was given an "all-clear" around 11 a.m., when employees were allowed back in to the facility. The area near the explosion remained closed, Baughman said.

The blast happened in one of the plant's three heat exchanging units, which are about 2 feet wide and 15 feet long. The units use ammonia, Baughman said.

Plant officials were investigating the cause of the explosion and trying to determine how much ammonia was spilled.

News from the Slovenian KNG

Workers at the Goodyear-owned Sava Tire in Slovenia are becoming increasingly frustrated with contract negotiations. The union is being told that inventory is high and second quarter sales are way down. The company says it is looking to lower cost 150 million Euros, about the same amount of money needed to build another plant in Russia. The Slovenia workers are asking why the need for so many cuts in light of the company's global profits and why build a new factory with an already filled market.

4,000 Turkish Rubber Workers Strike Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Pirelli

ICEM InBrief, June 2, 2008

ICEM Turkish trade union affiliate Lastik-İş made good on its 8 May strike notice by calling 4,000 tyre manufacturing workers out at four factories, operated by three multinational tyre companies. The strikes began late on Saturday, 31 May.

Negotiations continued until the early morning hours of that day, with the employers' association offering last-minute wage and social payment proposals to avert strikes. Those offers were presented to rank-and-file members of Lastik-İş, but were rejected by an accumulative 80% vote.

The strikes then began at factories of Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci and Pirelli, and two plants operated and majority- owned by US-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The four tyre plants are in the Turkish cities of Izmit and Adapazari. The union and management association has been negotiating since September 2007 on a new labour agreement.

"The decision to strike was taken by workers and I believe we shall overcome the employers' intransigence," said Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. "The salary offer made by employers is far from meeting the work performed by tyre workers. Our decisiveness for gaining our demands is resolute."

The union is seeking a 12% wage increase for the first six-month period of a two-year labour agreement, and the Turkish rate of inflation for each six-month period thereafter. The tyre companies are resisting inflation-rate payments for the three six-month periods. The two sides differ also on various social payments customary in Turkish work schemes.

All agenda items within the 59-article labour contract, save for the wage and social payment items, have been agreed upon by the two sides.

Goodyear operates an auto, light truck, bus, and heavy equipment tyre plant in Adapazari, employing 800 rubber workers, and a truck, bus, and agriculture tyre plant in Izmit, where 500 workers are employed. Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, jointly owned by Japanese-based Bridgestone and Sabanci Group of Turkey, manufactures auto, truck, and heavy equipment tyres in Izmit, employing 1,500, while Italian-based Pirelli has another auto and truck tyre plant in Izmit, in which 1,200 workers are employed.