Steelworkers Ratify Goodyear Agreement

September 19, 2009

Pittsburgh – The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced that a new four-year Agreement covering some 10,300 USW members at seven Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plants has been ratified by secret ballot rank & file referendum vote concluded last night.

The voting took place at the various plant locations after the membership had an opportunity to review a printed contract summary and attend informational meetings.

“The contract was approved by an overwhelming majority of the membership and a majority of the plants,” said Kevin Johnsen, USW contract coordinator during negotiations.

The previous labor agreement expired July 18 and was twice extended before the settlement was reached. The new agreement takes effect Sept. 21.

The union’s priorities were job and plant security and continuing good, affordable health care for its members.

“During this difficult economic period, this contract gives our members job security for the next four years,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

The agreement protects six out of the seven plants from closure during the term of the agreement and provides for minimum staffing levels. It also provides for a commitment by Goodyear to invest $600 million in capital expenditures in the plants, keeping them up to date and globally competitive.

The protected plants include: Akron, Ohio; Gadsden, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Topeka, Kan.; Danville, Va., and Fayetteville, N.C.

During the recent market downturn, the plant in Union City, Tenn., had been severely impacted by the deluge of cheap tires from China. A local agreement negotiated in April provided for up to 600 workers to receive buy-outs.

New Protection for U.S. Workers

USW International President Tom Conway, chairman of the Goodyear bargaining committee, helped lead the union’s successful fight to protect USW tire jobs by preparing the Section 421 case against the imported tires and providing convincing testimony on numerous occasions to support the case.

“There never was any doubt that the Chinese tire imports have injured domestic production workers,” Conway said. “We’ve had six tire plants employing 7,000 workers shut down because of the tire import surge from China.”

President Obama stood up for American workers and American manufacturing last week when he imposed tariffs on Chinese consumer tires for a period of three years. The action is fully consistent with our country’s WTO obligations during import surges that threaten an industry.

“We are optimistic that the step taken by the President will provide real, effective relief,” Conway said.

The Union City plant is one of the plants that stand to benefit from President Obama’s action if the market returns to previous demand.

The Goodyear plant in Tyler, Texas is one of the plants closed more than a year ago, a victim of the cheap, imported tires from China.

More on tentative Goodyear-USW contract

MTD - September 8, 2009

The United Steelworkers (USW) union has released more details about the tentative master contract with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that is expected to be ratified by Sept. 18. The agreement covers 10,300 union members at seven Goodyear plants.

"Our priorities were to protect our plants and our jobs while maintaining good, affordable health care in a difficult economic climate," says USW International Vice President Tom Conway.

The agreement, according to the USW, requires Goodyear to invest at least $600 million in capital expenditures to maintain its factories "with state-of-the-art equipment." The agreement also protects six plants against closure: Akron, Ohio; Gadsden, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Topeka, Kan.; Danville, Va.; and Fayetteville, N.C.

Other provisions include:
* "separation allowance buyouts" for employees at Goodyear's Buffalo factory "in the event the company decides to no longer produce truck tires" there.
* "wage and benefit improvements" for employees hired after Oct. 1, 2006, including two 50-cents-an-hour increases and additional vacation time designed "to bring them closer to the levels of senior employees. They also will be eligible to receive accident and sickness benefits, vision care (and) improved life insurance coverage."
* multiplier increases for senior employees who retire during the duration of the new agreement.

The contract must be approved "by a majority of the membership and a majority of the plants," according to USW officials.

Goodyear plans to appeal against job-cutting plan rejection

French Business Digest - August 31, 2009

US tyre maker Goodyear (NYSE:GT) announced that it may appeal against the court ruling which blocked its new restructuring plan for the site of Amiens Nord, northern France.

The plan, recently suspended by the French court of Nanterre, included 820 job cuts out of a total 1,400 staff.

Trade union CGT had referred the job-trimming decision to the court, which said that the plan was incomplete, particularly regarding the future of the production of agricultural tyres.
In November 2008, the court rejected an earlier restructuring plan by Goodyear, which envisaged 402 job cuts. The group's management had appealed against the ruling and was granted the possibility to present a new plan.

Trade unions are urging the management to open talks on the industrial future of the facility.