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.