Goodyear, Steelworkers reach deal on contract

Associated Press, August 30, 2009

CLEVELAND — Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers of America reached a tentative national contract agreement Saturday night.

The union and company said the agreement was reached about three hours before a midnight Saturday deadline neared for the expiration of the old contract, which had been extended twice.

Rank-and-file members will be briefed on the deal and take a ratification vote.

Wayne Ranick, a spokesman with the union headquarters in Pittsburgh, said the deal was for four years.

The talks, which began in June with the national recession as a backdrop, covered about 10,300 Steelworkers at seven Goodyear plants in the U.S.

The Steelworkers had made job security their top priority in talks covering workers in Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; Topeka, Kan., and Union City, Tenn.

The goals of the Akron-based company were improved productivity and flexibility.

Goodyear, USW continue to talk

Gadsden Times, August 24, 2009

Workers at two BFGoodrich plants have ratified a new three-year contract as the United Steelworkers continue contract talks with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone.

Members of the United Steelworkers Local 351 in Tuscaloosa and the local in Fort Wayne, Ind., approved the contract by a 5-to-1 margin, according to Jimmy Price, president of Local 351. The contract covers about 2,500 workers at the plants.

Price, who was on the union's bargaining committee, said he felt BFGoodrich was "very responsible to give a fair contract."

A key concern for the union was job security. BFGoodrich has moved to close some of its plants, including its Opelika tire plant, which will shut down permanently in October.

That plant had about 1,000 workers when BFGoodrich announced its closing this year.

Bren Riley, vice president of USW Local 12, which represents workers at the Gadsden Goodyear plant, said the agreement reached between the USW and BFGoodrich could have an impact on the Goodyear negotiations going on in Cincinnati.

After two extensions, the Goodyear contract will expire at 10:59 p.m. Saturday.

However, Ed Markey, Goodyear's vice president for public relations and communications in North America, said the agreement will not affect the company's negotiations.

"Our discussions continue

to proceed in Cincinnati, both sides being very professional about it. We remain optimistic that we'll reach an agreement," Markey said.

A spokesman for Bridgestone/Firestone told the Akron Beacon Journal the BFGoodrich agreement would not impact its talks because each company is unique.

The USW talks were going on with the three companies in three different locations, and Riley said the union traditionally has used an agreement reached with one company as a "pattern" for agreements with other tire makers.

This year, Riley said, union officials chose to have talks with all companies at the same time, rather than selecting a "target company" to negotiate with. When one got close to an agreement, the union then would put its resources into those negotiations.

"Then they would come together and talk about that agreement and vote whether to accept that as pattern-setting or not," Riley said.

He said the BFGoodrich agreement could be used as a pattern, but he did not know that for sure.

Riley didn't have any specific information about the BFGoodrich agreement.

"I don't know what they've got," he said.

The USW talks with Goodyear began June 8. The current contract ended July 18, but the company and union agreed to a 28-day extension and then a second, 14-day extension that ends Saturday.

A strike in 2006 lasted for three months.

The Goodyear-USW contract covers about 10,300 Goodyear associates in the U.S., including plants in Gadsden; Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Topeka, Kan.; and Union City, Tenn.

Goodyear, union agree to extension

The Gadsden Times, August 12, 2009

 

For the second time, the contract between the United Steelworkers and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been extended — this time for 14 days, according to company and union officials.

The contract had been set to expire at 10:59 p.m. CDT Saturday. With the extension, the contract now will expire at 10:59 p.m. CDT on Aug. 29.

The talks continue in Cincinnati.

“We have made progress on some of the significant issues,” said Jim Allen, Goodyear’s chief negotiator. “We recognize that we need the additional time to work through the remaining issues, and we remain confident that a satisfactory agreement will be reached.”

A statement by the union on its Web site said “sufficient movement over the past two weeks prompted both sides to agree to the extension, as an agreement could not be reached by the August 15, 2009, deadline.”

Contract talks began June 8.

The contract covers approximately 10,300 Goodyear associates in the U.S., including plants in Gadsden; Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Topeka, Kan.; and Union City, Tenn.

United Steelworkers Local 12 Vice President Bren Riley said Wednesday afternoon he was informed of the extension by USW Local 12 President David Hayes, who is participating in the contract talks.

Riley said he was encouraged by the extension and said it shows “both sides think there is an agreement out there.”

Goodyear has said key issues in the new contract are productivity and flexibility and pensions and benefit issues.

Hayes said in April that key issues for the union would be job security, improving wages and benefits and improving the wages of new hires at the plant.

During the last contract talks in 2006, the contract was scheduled to end in July but was extended on a day-to-day basis. Talks continued until October, when the union went out on strike for almost three months before an agreement was reached in late December.

According to the USW Web site concerning the contract talks, votes have been completed at all locals with 98.5 percent of the membership authorizing a strike if necessary.