Goodyear, Steelworkers Bargain During Tough Economy

The Buffalo News, June 23, 2009

Contract negotiations will affect local tire plant in Tonawanda, which has over 900 hourly workers

Goodyear Tire & Rubber and the United Steelworkers are negotiating a new contract — talks that will have a local impact.

The Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America plant on Sheridan Drive in the Town of Tonawanda is one of seven U. S. facilities covered by the bargaining, with a combined total of 10,300 workers. The current three-year labor agreement expires July 18.

The local plant makes tires for passenger cars, commercial trucks and motorcycles. It has already has felt the effects of the economic downturn and the company’s push to reduce costs, cutting almost 150 jobs late last year through buyouts and layoffs.

The existing national agreement did not come about easily. In 2006, the Steelworkers went on strike for three months before approving a deal. This time, the two sides are bargaining amid a recession, with auto sales stuck in a slump.

Wayne Ranick, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh-based Steelworkers, said he believes the talks will go more smoothly this time.

A major point of contention, involving retiree health care, was resolved in the last round of talks, he said, and both sides are cognizant of the current economic climate.

Ranick said the union’s priorities are jobs and keeping the plants operating, along with ensuring adequate capital investment in the facilities. “That sort of all goes together,” he said.
Goodyear says it has to control costs so that the company remains competitive in a global marketplace. The tire maker identifies four key issues in the talks: productivity, flexibility, pensions and benefits.

By flexibility, the company says it means its plants “must have workers in the right place, at the right time, producing the right products at the right cost.”

Goodyear in December 2008 froze its defined pension benefit plans for its U. S. salaried workers, but not its hourly workers. It says its pension plans are “significantly underfunded,” following declines in interest rates and pension asset values.

In remarks to the bargaining teams at the start of talks in Cincinnati, Goodyear executive Rich Kramer cited the economic climate and the fact that the company’s North American business lost $189 million in the first quarter as major challenges.

Kramer, who is chief operating officer and president of North American Tire, said Goodyear’s goal is “profitable growth by building tires in North America.” The company will never be the low-cost manufacturer of tires, he said, so it must find ways to improve efficiency.

The Tonawanda tire plant has 948 hourly workers represented by the Steelworkers, along with 152 salaried workers, said Diane Zwirecki, a spokeswoman at the plant. An additional 40 salaried employees work at offices in Amherst, for a combined work force of 1,140.

The manufacturing plant produces an average of 5,500 motorcycle tires, 4,200 passenger tires and 2,000 truck tires per day, Zwirecki said.

USW at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s Akron Technical Center Approves Buyouts

Cleveland Ohio Business News, June 11, 2009

Members of the United Steelworkers union who make racing tires at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s Akron Technical Center have agreed to buyouts for 120 workers there, USW Local 2L reported Wednesday.

The local's 440 members voted on the new staffing level. The vote also affirmed an agreement with the tire maker to preserve 256 USW jobs at the tech center for 2½ more years.

"We will keep the manufacturing staff level at that level through 2012," Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey said.

Union workers who accept the buyout would receive $2,000 for every year of service, to a maximum of $40,000. The local said about 130 of the members eligible for buyouts are of retirement age. If fewer than 120 union members accept the buyout, Goodyear can lay off enough workers to make up the difference, Markey said. He said the buyouts have no effect on engineering and other salaried employees at the tech center.

Some union personnel argued that approval of the agreement could open the door for the company to move its rubber-production operations to Buffalo, N.Y. The company declined to comment on such a possibility.

'Typical' Start to Goodyear Contract Talks

Akron Beacon Journal, June 9, 2009

Goodyear wants to remain a viable company.

The Steelworkers want to make sure their members have jobs.

That basically sums up the opening presentations Monday in Cincinnati between Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers as contract negotiations began in earnest, according to a union official. The current three-year contract expires July 18.

Rich Kramer, Goodyear's new chief operating officer and president of the North American Tire division, spoke to the group, as did Tom Conway, who is leading the negotiations for the Steelworkers.

Goodyear released a short excerpt from Kramer's presentation.

"I believe our new agreement will be a reflection of our shared interests and our mutual desire to make Goodyear the best-performing tire company in North America and the model for success in these uncertain times. . .a model others will look to as an example of how to win with manufacturing right here at home," Kramer said.

"Our future together won't look like the past. Our present doesn't even look like the past. But our vision should be the same. The goal of this negotiation is to reach an agreement that is consistent with the new realities of our industry and outlines the actions that we -- Goodyear and the USW under one banner -- must take to win," he said.

"At this point, we're looking for job security," said Kevin Johnsen, the union's Goodyear contract negotiator.

Johnsen said it was a "typical" opening day for master contract talks that had both sides exchanging comprehensive proposals and meeting face to face for several hours.
The next face-to-face meeting will take place in a number of days, once each side has had enough time to review the proposals, Johnsen said.

The Steelworkers have about 10,300 union members working at seven U.S. plants, including about 440 members in Akron.

The union went on strike in the fall of 2006 for 12 weeks. The strike ended in late December after the Akron tire maker and union agreed to create an independent health-care trust, called a VEBA, for union retirees.

USW Talks Begin

Rubber & Plastics News, June 1, 2009

Initial bargaining sessions for the 2009 tire industry master contracts are set to begin this week.

United Steelworkers negotiating committees will start talks June 1 in Cincinnati with representatives of Goodyear and in Lexington, Ky., with Michelin North America Inc.'s BFGoodrich unit. A week later on June 8, contract discussions will begin in Louisville, Ky., between the USW and Bridgestone Americas.

The current BFG and Bridgestone contracts, covering about 3,200 and 4,500 workers, respectively, expire July 18. The Goodyear pact, covering about 11,500 workers, lapses July 22.

The Pittsburgh-based USW said it will emphasize job and plant security, investments at unionized plants, retiree benefits, tiered wage scales and health safety in this year's negotiations. Michelin announced in April it will close sometime this fall its Opelika, Ala., tire plant, one of three sites in the BFG chain where the USW represents the hourly workers.

Goodyear Workers Block French Operations Due to Planned Lay-Offs

Global Insight, June 3, 2009

Goodyear workers in France have blocked operations at the Amiens (France) plant, reacting to the firm's planned lay-offs at the facility, reports local newspaper Le Monde. The strike action yesterday involved about 400-500 workers, who restricted access to Amiens facility for a 24-hour period, demanding Goodyear management review its lay-off plans. Meanwhile, French workers of rival tyre-maker Continental have clinched an agreement with their management to be paid a minimum compensation of 50,000 euro ($69US,670), towards the closure of Continental's Clairoix plant (seeFrance: 1 June 2009:). Continental union representatives have asserted that they plan to join the Goodyear workers in the latter's bid for an equal compensation or fewer lay-offs.

Significance:Goodyear has already laid off 3,800 workers during the first quarter of this year and aims to reduce its built-up inventory by over $500US million during the year, on the lines of its Four-Point Cost Savings Plan aimed to achieve $2US.5 billion in gross cost savings by the end of this year. Goodyear is reportedly planning to discontinue consumer tyre production at its Amiens plant, in its bid to reduce its high-cost manufacturing facilities globally. The decision has met with characteristic rebellion from the local French union and with the support of Continental's workers, Goodyear appear set for a tough round of summer negotiations over the job losses.

Union-busting at Goodyear Peru

Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores de Goodyear de Peru, June 3, 2009

27 workers at the Goodyear Peru plant in Callao continue to fight for reinstatement after they were dismissed from the company in December 2008, in what appears to be a case of blatant union busting and discrimination against union activists and some of the company’s most senior workers.

Of the 27 workers who lost their jobs, ten were founding members of the union, the Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores de Goodyear de Peru, four were union officers, and the majority counted more than 20 years of service to the company. Although most of the dismissed workers were fired outright, ten of them were forced to sign “voluntary” resignation letters. The workers were fired just as the union was beginning talks with the company on issues including freedom of association and collection bargaining and workers’ right to be protected from arbitrary dismissals.

“The Minister of Labor (Jehude Simon) told us to accept Goodyear’s layoff package because it was a good deal. But I have worked at the plant for 20 years and still have children to raise,” said one of the dismissed workers. “We can’t sit back and let Goodyear get away with using harassment and pressure to eliminate decent union jobs.”

Even though production at the plant has held steady, since firing the 25 workers, Goodyear Peru has reduced shifts at the plant from three to two per day. To keep things running, the company is relying on young, untrained workers on short-term contracts, and paying them only a third of what union members earned for the same work. The majority of employees are now on short-term contracts and are too insecure to stand up for their rights at work for fear that the company won’t renew their contracts.

The union has raised formal complaints about the dismissals to local and national authorities, but Goodyear Peru has not chosen to reinstate the fired workers in meetings with the local authorities and has so far refused to meet with the national authorities. The union is appealing to the Supreme Court, and calling on its brothers and sisters in Goodyear unions around the world to support them.

More Than 510 Accept Goodyear’s Buyout Offer

The Messenger, June 2, 2009

The deadline has passed and the results are in concerning the potential for a number of Goodyear-Union City associates to walk away from the plant.

According to UC Today, a weekly publication provided to Goodyear-Union City associates, 518 workers have applied for a Phase I buyout from the company.

USW Local 878 members were notified of a proposal issued by Goodyear in late April, which highlighted three potential phases of production decreases and buyouts for plant workers. After a vote by Local 878 workers, the agreement was accepted by an overwhelming 97 percent in favor of the proposal.

Since that time, Goodyear-Union City announced plans to move to an eight hours a day, five days a week traditional production schedule after the July 4 holiday shutdown. Currently, the factory operates seven days a week on a 12-hour continuous production schedule.The plant also announced it would allow the buyout of 600 associates under Phase 1 of the agreement.

Under Phase 1, associates with at least six months of service to the plant could apply for the buyout at $3,000 for each year of service with no cap.

Goodyear-Union City reported on Friday that 518 associates signed up for the Phase 1 buyout package. An additional 30 inactive associates will be included in the final number. The plant posted buyout awards throughout the factory Monday morning. Under Phase 1, associates between the ages of 53 and 55 with a minimum of 28 years of service who accept the buyout will be eligible to receive unemployment benefits until they are eligible to retire from the company.

Goodyear-Union City associates who plan to retire as a result of the buyout can schedule meetings in the human resources organization beginning June 9.

“This phase of the transition process is complete,” plant manager Todd Turner said. “Our focus now must be on implementing a new production schedule and improving our productivity to levels consistent with organizations that operate in a global environment in order to ensure Goodyear Union City’s operations remain viable.

“Making the Union City plant successful into the future will require a total team effort, driven by a willingness by all to put aside the past and operate the plant in a totally new and more productive manner going forward,” he said. “Anything less will greatly reduce our chances of success.”

Turner noted that Goodyear’s presence in Union City is valued, and the plant’s challenge is to deliver to its commitments and continue to earn the customers’ trust every day.USW Local 878 communications director Willis Hicks told The Weakley County Press that associates would leave the plant according to job classification and based on the time it takes to train replacements in various departments.

The lagging economy has taken its toll on the replacement tire industry as Goodyear plants in Topeka, Kan., and Danville, Va., have reported similar buyout agreements.

According to the WIBW-TV of Kansas, 225 jobs would be eliminated through buyouts and lay offs at the Topeka Goodyear plant. The Danville Register and Bee reported 200 buyouts were offered at the Danville Goodyear plant.

Both facilities also announced plans to move to a traditional eight hours a day, five days a week production schedule.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES SUIT AGAINST GOODYEAR TIRE and RUBBER CO. TO ENFORCE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF U.S. ARMY RESERVIST

Justice Department Press Release, May 29, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. alleging it violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by failing promptly to reemploy Michael J. Ellis in his factory job when he returned from active military duty.

As a result of an earlier military service-related injury exacerbated by his job with Goodyear, Ellis had become unable to perform physically the functions of his job as a Roll Changer/Extruder Operator with Goodyear in May 2005. While Goodyear searched for a new position for Ellis, he was called to active duty with the U.S. Army Reserves where he served as a Major until his honorable discharge in September 2007. The Department's complaint alleges that when Ellis sought reemployment with Goodyear shortly after his honorable discharge, the company took no steps to identify the position he would have held if his employment had not been interrupted by military service. Instead, Goodyear delayed reemploying him for 51 weeks while repeatedly requesting medical documentation not required or permitted by USERRA as a prerequisite to reemployment.

"No returning service member should have to wait almost a full year for reemployment under such circumstances," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "Such a delay clearly violates USERRA's promise of prompt reemployment."

The Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service investigated and attempted to resolve Ellis's USERRA complaint before referring it to the Justice Department for litigation.

Congress enacted USERRA in 1994 to minimize disruption in the lives of returning service members by providing for their prompt reemployment following military service. As part of the protection the statute provides, USERRA requires employers to reemploy a returning service member in the position the employee would have held had his or her employment not been interrupted by military service.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has given a high priority to the enforcement of service members' rights under USERRA. This is the fourteenth USERRA suit the Division has filed this year on behalf of service members. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department's Web sites at http://www.servicemembers.gov and http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp, as well as the Labor Department's Web site at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.