Goodyear to close for week

The Fayetteville Observer, October 21

 

Goodyear is taking another weeklong break from making tires in Fayetteville.

That means that workers will again have to draw unemployment benefits for a time.

Production at the Ramsey Street plant will be put on pause from Saturday through Nov. 1, said plant spokesman Richard Evans.

The reason, Evans said, is to “align production with reduced customer demand.”

That’s the same reason Goodyear officials gave for a two-week halt in Fayetteville in August, which followed a one-week halt in July.

So this will be the fourth week that the plant will sit idle this year — a year in which motorists have been driving fewer miles and therefore putting less wear on their tires.

A corporate Goodyear spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Monday.

But the trade publication Modern Tire Dealer reported Friday that in addition to the Fayetteville plant, Goodyear facilities in Union City, Tenn., and Gadsen, Ala., would halt production during the last week in October. The publication also reported that Goodyear’s Lawton, Okla., plant will take off four Sundays in a row.

Goodyear employs about 3,000 people and is Cumberland County’s largest corporate tax payer with a total tax bill of $1.6million last year.

Fayetteville employees who will stay home during the weeklong halt will be eligible for unemployment benefits during that time, said Daryl Jackson, president of United Steelworkers Local 959. But it won’t match what a typical Goodyear employee earns.

Still, Jackson said, “if you look around and you see what’s going on with layoffs, we’re fortunate. As it stands, we’re just going to be off that last week in October and possibly a week around Christmas, although there’s no definite answer on (December).”

Officials with Goodyear and the union say the production halts shouldn’t be seen as a precursor to layoffs.

Jackson said he has heard some recent break-room buzz about job cuts. But to his knowledge, there is no truth to any of the rumors.

“Part of the reason for taking time out is so that (Goodyear) won’t have to lay anybody off,” Jackson said.

Evans, the company spokesman, said: “Goodyear monitors the market every week and makes adjustments when needed. And no, there have been no announcements other than the one week in October.

But he added: “Who can speculate within this economy?”

He could not address any later production halts.

Beyond the what is planned for next week, Evans said, “there are no additional announcements from Goodyear.”

Jackson said the automotive industry, like the housing market, is hurting. That obviously affects the plants that feed the market.

“Every time you pick up the newspaper or listen to the news, there’s another plant shutting down,” Jackson said.

He mentioned Georgia Pacific’s recent announcement that it would “indefinitely idle” its lumber plant in Columbus County, where 350 people work.

“We’re very fortunate to be in the situation that we are in,” Jackson said.

“We are still in bad economic times, but it’s going to get better,” he said. “I believe help is on the way.”