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.