Goodyear Global Union Network

Steelworkers Ratify Goodyear Agreement

2009-09-21T08:41:00.000-05:00

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

2009-09-10T13:04:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-02T11:01:00.001-05:00

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.

Goodyear, Steelworkers reach deal on contract

2009-08-30T06:54:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

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

2009-08-13T09:39:00.001-05:00

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.

Goodyear To Close Philippines Tire Plant, To Cut 500 Jobs - Update

2009-07-17T08:36:00.002-05:00

RTT News, July 17, 2009

Friday, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT: News ) said it will close its tire plant in the Philippines, citing higher costs, which will resulting in a reduction of approximately 500 . of the company's 600 associates in the country. The company also said it expects to record a closure-related charge in the third quarter. The action, as part of a strategy to address uncompetitive manufacturing capacity globally, is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter.

The company noted that its sales and marketing operations in the country are not affected.

The Akron, Ohio-based tire manufacturer said that the closure of the plant in Las Pinas will result in the reduction of nearly two million units of annual production capacity. Goodyear's strategy is to remove 15 million to 25 million units of capacity over the next two years. Production will be transferred to lower-cost plants in the company's Asia-Pacific Region. In Philippines, Goodyear has had a presence since 1919, and the Las Pinas plant was opened in 1956.

In addition, the company said it plans to record approximately $20 million in charges associated with the closure in the third quarter of 2009, principally for non-cash asset write offs.

Pierre Cohade, president of Goodyear's Asia-Pacific Region, stated, "Due to high costs compared to other plants in the region, tires produced in the Las Pinas plant are not competitive in the marketplace. Goodyear is committed to its business in the Philippines as well as continuous product innovation, and intends to maintain its market leadership through aggressive marketing, excellent customer service and superior products. This action will, in no way, disrupt our service to wholesale, retail and original equipment customers."

In late May, Goodyear had said that it would discontinue consumer tire production at a plant in Amiens, France, which would result in reducing about 820 jobs, as part of its strategy to reduce high-cost manufacturing capacity. The closure was due to the plant's uncompetitive costs. The production cease would result in reduction of about 6 million units of production.

While, in June, Goodyear announced that it would move its consumer tire plant in Union City, from a continuous operating schedule to a five-day, three-shift operation on July 6. The Union City plant can produce about 12 million consumer tires a year for the original equipment and replacement markets and currently employs about 2,300 associates.

Goodyear, Steelworkers extend contract 4 weeks

2009-07-15T10:35:00.003-05:00

WRAL.COM July 14, 2009

AKRON, Ohio — Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers of America have extended their national contract four weeks until Aug. 15, both sides said Tuesday.

The three-year contract covering about 10,300 Steelworkers at seven Goodyear plants in the U.S. had been scheduled to expire Saturday. The extension was announced by the company in an e-mail statement. The union's contract Web site also detailed the move.

The Steelworkers said job security would overshadow other issues in contract talks covering workers in Akron; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; Topeka, Kan., and Union City, Tenn.

All terms of the current agreement will remain in force with the extension, the union said.

Contract talks, which began last month, continue in Cincinnati.

Progress "remains slow," according to the union's bargaining committee's Web site. Still, the union "believes we can reach a new labor agreement before Aug. 15, 2009 that is fair and equitable to all of our members," the Web site said.

Goodyear said it was confident an agreement could be reached, but didn't specify when.
"We remain confident that we will reach an agreement that is acceptable to both sides," Jim Allen, Goodyear's chief negotiator, said in a statement released by the Akron-based company.

Goodyear, Steelworkers Bargain During Tough Economy

2009-06-23T13:25:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-12T07:47:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-10T09:02:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-08T08:23:00.001-05:00

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

2009-06-04T14:21:00.001-05:00

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

2009-06-03T16:29:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-03T09:21:00.002-05:00

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

2009-06-02T08:23:00.001-05:00

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.

Goodyear to Cut 870 Jobs at French Operations-Report

2009-05-27T09:55:00.001-05:00

Global Insight, May 26, 2009

Goodyear is planning to cut 870 jobs at its Amiens plant in France owing to the deterioration in business prospects amid the ongoing economic downturn, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report. AFP said that the Goodyear management would reveal its intentions over the impending lay-offs "during the first-half of June, after the establishment of the central council from the [French government] elections in April." He added that about 100 jobs could also be cut at Goodyear's Montlucon (Allier) facility; but company officials have denied this speculation, although confirming that the negotiations are ongoing with the local worker unions at its Amiens facility.

Significance: Goodyear cut 400 jobs at its Amiens plant last year. However, the company management and trade union leaders have been in constant disagreement over the future of the plant ever since. Goodyear announced in January 2008 that its European business unit was planning to reduce tyre production at its two factories in Amiens, because their costs were not competitive. Goodyear has subsequently shifted production of some of its tyres to its other lower-cost factories in Europe and elsewhere, while some products were eliminated. Goodyear has already laid off 3,800 workers globally during the first quarter 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 gross cost savings by the end of 2009 (seeUnited States: 30 April 2009:). The job losses represent over 50% of the plant's workforce.

Dunlop To End Final Salary Pension Scheme

2009-05-14T12:29:00.001-05:00

Birmingham Post, May 12, 2009

Tyremaker Goodyear Dunlop UK is to begin consultations on a plan to close its final salary pension scheme.

The Birmingham-based Anglo-American company would not say yesterday whether the scheme was in deficit or by how much, but it is believed to be the latest in a growing list of businesses that are finding the cost of supporting a pension scheme based on pay and length of service excessive.

It said yesterday that it was starting talks with pension trustees, trade unions and employee representatives about the introduction of a new defined contribution (DC) pension scheme.

Unlike a final salary, or defined benefit (DB) scheme, in which the company bears the risk of ensuring that the fund has enough cash to meet its liabilities, a DC scheme transfers the investment risk to employees.

Goodyear Dunlop said the proposed new scheme would replace both the company's so-called Hybrid Scheme (which combines a normal final salary scheme with additional voluntary contributions from members) and an existing "New Hire" DC scheme.

The company calculates that about 850 employees in Birmingham and Wolverhampton are members of the hybrid scheme and 70 pay into New Hire.

"The consultation will be on the proposed replacement of the current schemes with a new enhanced defined contribution programme," the company said in a statement. Those who are paying into the DB scheme will have their accrued benefits deferred, and the company is proposing the introduction of a DC scheme for future service to add to the members' existing benefits.

Union City Associates Approve Goodyear Buyout

2009-05-12T09:08:00.004-05:00

Weakley County Press, May 11, 2009

Special to The Messenger
Union workers at the Good-year-Union City plant voted overwhelmingly in favor of an agreement between the company and United Steelworkers Local 878 which proposed a “buyout” of at least 600 associates during its first phase of initiation. The agreement also states the local tire manufacturing facility would no longer be protected under Letter 53 of a master contract and may be closed.

In a letter dated April 24 to Local 878 president Harry Alford, a proposal was offered to local union associates that highlights three potential “phases” of a workforce reduction at the Union City Goodyear plant. Local 878 members cast their votes Friday and Saturday, with 94 percent voting in favor of the buyout agreement.

“This agreement was to give the Union City plant a chance to survive. They were considering closing the plant and with this agreement, if things pick up in the next two years, it will have a good chance to survive,” USW Local 878 communications director Willis Hicks said.
Hicks added the company will put out information to its associates concerning how many buyouts would be available and the number of employees who would fall into a workforce reduction.

Union City Goodyear communications manager Jimmy Cagle, who will leave Union City for the Lawton, Okla., plant next week after more than 20 years at the local plant, said, “We are pleased the membership of USW Local 878L has voted to support the tentative agreement. The change is in response to continued lower demand for consumer passenger and light truck tires and current economic conditions.”

“We will now begin work to implement the agreement and continue to drive improvement activities for our operations,” said Union City plant manager Todd Turner.

Goodyear-Union City currently employs about 2,600 team members, according to Cagle.

The terms of the proposal state under Phase 1 of the agreement that the plant has the right to make an initial ticket reduction and/or conversion to a five-day conventional schedule. Goodyear-Union City announced last week the plant plans to move its production schedule to three eight-hour shifts, five days a week — Monday through Friday — on July 6 after the July 4 holiday shutdown.

The plant issued a 60-day notice of possible intentions to move to an eight-hour conventional production schedule in February. Currently, Goodyear operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day on 12-hour shifts.

Included in Phase 1 of the agreement is the buyout of 600 Goodyear associates, including 60 technical maintenance by classification, at $3,000 per year of service with no cap. Those eligible under a Phase 1 buyout include associates with a minimum six months of service.

Under the agreement, “Employees on Occupational/Non-Occupational Leave of Absence or on layoff will be offered buyouts only in Phase 1 and only if an insufficient number of buyouts have been accepted after they have been offered to all other employees.”

Goodyear associates will have the option of accepting buyouts at $3,000 per year of service or being placed on layoff with existing rights and benefits under Phase 1, according to the agreement.

As an incentive to senior associates between the ages of 53 and 55 with at least 28 years of service as of June 1 of this year who choose the buyout during Phase 1 may elect voluntary layoff and may remain on layoff status without recall rights until they reach the necessary retirement criteria of age 55 and 30 years of service. They will then be required to retire under the terms of the Pension, Insurance and Service Award Agreements in effect at that time as highlighted in the buyout proposal.

The agreement also stipulates Phase 2 criteria in the event subsequent ticket reductions are made at the Goodyear plant prior to announced plant closure.

Under Phase 2 of the agreement, 400 buyouts would be offered at $2,000 for each year of service at the plant, with no cap.

Phase 3 of the agreement states that in the event of an announced plant closure, employees who did not leave during Phases 1 or 2 would have the option of accepting a $25,000 lump sum one-time payment or preferential hire rights, SUB and SIC pays, as well as medical and other benefits according to plant closure provisions of the Pension and Insurance Agreement.

Any associate who opts to take a layoff during Phase 2 or 3 of the agreement will be eligible to receive $250 a week for a maximum of 84 weeks. According to the agreement, buyouts will be paid as a lump sum after the associate’s exit and will be subject to federal, state or local payroll taxes including a deduction of Union dues.

A reduced demand for replacement tires coupled with declining auto sales have impacted production at several Goodyear plants during the course of the last 12 months.

In August 2008, four North American Goodyear tire plants announced reduced consumer tire production by 8 million tires last year. Goodyear-Union City was among the four plants who experienced three production shutdowns during the last quarter of 2008 as a result of a declining passenger tire market.

USW Local 831 approved a similar buyout agreement with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. at its plant in Danville, Va., earlier this year.

The Danville plant reduced its production schedule from a 12-hour continuous operation to an eight-hour five-day-a-week schedule in late March, according to The Danville Register & Bee. Goodyear-Danville reportedly offered 200 buy outs at $2,000 per year of service with a cap at $40,000.

Clint Smith, corporate support communications manager in Goodyear’s global communications organization in Akron, has been named to replace Cagle.

Things Dire For Workers

2009-05-04T13:10:00.001-05:00

The Nation (Thailand), May 1, 2009

Thai Labour Federation of the Petrochemical Industry secretarygeneral Saman Pornprachatham said people working for at least three major tyre manufacturers would rally at the Labour Ministry on May 7. More than 20,000 workers in six tyremanufacturing companies had either been laid off, had their work hours cut or had not been paid their salaries, he said.

Saman said that 160 workers with tyremanufacturer Goodyear had been laid off despite the firm's executives previously agreeing to notify the labour union in advance. Workers at Siam Michelin in Samut Prakan's Samrong Tai area had also suffered a 13 per cent salary cut, while those working for Michelin in Rayong's Laem Chabang area had overdue payments, he said, adding working hours at both factories had also been cut.

"What concerns us the most is that the employers might use this as an opportunity to sack workers, especially those working for unions and joining the rally this time," he said, adding that Labour Ministry officials were not taking their problems seriously. They only sent officials to inspect the premises and wait until the problems faded away, he said.

Goodyear offering buyouts at Union City plant

2009-05-01T08:41:00.003-05:00

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, April 30, 2009

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is offering buyouts at its Union City plant to deal with the economic downturn.

According to the Union City Daily Messenger, the first phase of the buyouts has been offered to 600 workers ages 53 to 55 who would get $3,000 for each year of service with no cap.

The plant announced earlier this year that it would reduce its production schedule to an eight-hour, five-day-a-week operation. Currently, the facility operates a 12-hour continuous production schedule.

A United Steelworkers union spokesman said members would meet to discuss the proposal.

Lawton tire plant cited in worker's death

2009-04-13T10:14:00.001-05:00

April 1, 2009

Federal investigators have issued a citation against a Goodyear tire manufacturing facility in Lawton in the September death of a worker there.

Forty-five-year-old Steve Mason was critically injured Sept. 20 after being caught in a tire-building machine. He died three days later at a Lawton hospital.

After an initial probe, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not report any violations at the plant. But the federal agency returned for a follow-up investigation on March 20 and cited the facility for not properly protecting employees from hazards related to the machine.

A spokeswoman for Goodyear says the company plans to contest the alleged violation.

THAILAND WORKERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST SALARY CUTS AND LAY-OFFS

2009-04-10T14:22:00.001-05:00

Thai Press Reports, April 9, 2009

About 500 workers from three companies rallied at the Victory Monument on April 7 and blocked entrances to the Labour Ministry in a complaint about salary cuts and lay-offs, the Bangkok Post reports.

The workers, from tyre makers Michelin and Goodyear and metal pipe maker Canadoil Asia, said they would continue to block the ministry until they saw Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong.

They vowed to stay outside the ministry every night until National Labour Day, May 1, if not satisfied with the meeting with Mr Paitoon.

The employees made an appointment to meet the minister at 5pm. They demanded Mr Paitoon summon the owners of the three companies to talk to their representatives. The employees claimed they had talked to employer representatives and could not reach an agreement.

The Michelin staff said they were angry the firm had announced it would cut the pay of production staff by 13% and the wages of administration staff by 5%.

The Canadoil Asia staff demanded their firm reinstate 583 staff and pay them their unpaid wages since Mar 16.

The 160 Goodyear Co staff were outraged for being sacked without notice.

USW sets goals for upcoming talks

2009-03-27T08:20:00.001-05:00

Rubber & Plastics News, March 23, 2009

United Steelworkers negotiators will have familiar subjects on their minds when contract talks with the tire industry's Big Three begin later this year, but rather than making gains in those areas, the main objective will be preservation.

That won't be easy. Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear--plus many other tire makers--have made production and job cuts or postponed expansion projects in recent months, both in North America and globally.

And if the union is to reach its goals in a challenging economic environment, it likely will do so without its rubber industry leader. Ron Hoover, United Steelworkers executive vice president and head of the organization's Rubber/Plastics Industry Conference, plans to step down from his position on June 1.

Hoover, a 45-year veteran of the United Rubber Workers and--following their 1995 merger--the USW, made the official announcement at the R/PIC's pre-negotiations policy conference in Pittsburgh the week of March 9. Master contracts with the Big Three tire makers expire in July, and the R/PIC traditionally holds the conference before the beginning of talks in the three-year tire industry cycle.

The R/PIC represents about 45,000 workers, according to the USW. About 11,500 of those are Goodyear employees, 4,500 Bridgestone workers and 3,200 from Michelin/BFGoodrich, the union said.

Job and plant security, investments at unionized tire facilities, retiree benefits, health and safety and tiered wage scales are among the important issues the USW wants to emphasize in this year's bargaining, a union spokesman said. Most of those were at the top of the list in 2006 as well, but a highly competitive tire market made negotiations difficult.

Most notably, workers at 16 Goodyear tire and rubber product sites in North America went on strike in October 2006 and stayed out for 86 days. Also, in the months surrounding contract talks, several plants either closed or reduced capacity significantly.

Bridgestone shut down its Oklahoma City facility, and Goodyear closed its Tyler, Texas, factory and axed tire production at Valleyfield, Quebec. Michelin sliced production by 30-40 percent at its BFGoodrich site in Opelika, Ala.

Reduced demand in several segments--particularly in mass-market passenger tires--was already a problem three years ago, leading to many of those cutbacks.

Now, an overall recession makes maintenance a priority, the spokesman said.

"We want to generally protect what we have," he said. "We want to protect our staffing levels, help prevent closings and encourage investments in our plants."

Late last year, USW-represented workers at Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s Findlay, Ohio, and Texarkana, Ark., tire plants reached separate contract agreements with the company, securing jobs and production for the next three years. However, Cooper announced it would shut down its non-union Albany, Ga., passenger and light truck facility within the next year.

In addition to plant and job preservation, the USW wants to ensure that health and safety standards aren't compromised, especially as manufacturers are making efforts to cut costs, and close the gap between "old" and "new" employees the union says is becoming wider in current tiered wage systems. Earlier this year, Hoover used the world "havoc" to describe the situation with new hires and their wage levels and fringes.

USW officials are unsure if Hoover will participate in the 2009 bargaining round. Contract discussions are due to begin June 1, the effective date of his retirement.

Hoover has been head of the R/PIC since Sept. 1, 2005, when he succeeded John Sellers. Before that appointment, he served the URW and USW in numerous positions, including as Sellers' assistant, a URW staff member, a bargaining committee coordinator, and a member and two-term president of Local 307 in Topeka, Kan. That local is made up of hourly workers at Goodyear's Topeka tire plant.

Hoover will be succeeded by Stan Johnson, currently director of USW District 9 in Nashville, Tenn. Like Hoover, Johnson's roots are in the URW, and he also previously served as the USW's organizing director.

Topeka Goodyear Workers Approve Contract Provisions

2009-03-06T08:36:00.001-05:00

WIBW.com, March 5, 2009

Some workers at Topeka's Goodyear plant will lose their jobs in order to keep the plant competitive during tough economic times.

United Steelworkers Local 307 approved revisions to their contract with Goodyear in voting that ended late Thursday. It allows for the company to buyout up to 100 workers. Information provided to union members earlier in the week said there also would be layoffs, for a total of 225 positions eliminated.

A statement from Local 307 said the current contract required Goodyear to maintain certain staffing and production levels at the Topeka plant. Goodyear asked the union to negotiate lowering those levels because of the current economic situation, customer demand, and current product inventory.

"During these discussions the Union’s primary focus was to protect each of our members and their families during these uncertain economic times, as well as the Topeka community, whose economy is dependent on large employers like Goodyear and good paying jobs which our negotiations provide to our members," the Local 307 statement said.

Local 307 says the decision was "difficult" but was made to keep the plant viable and competitive until the economy improves.

In addition to the buyouts, the new agreement enhances supplemental unemployment benefits to any and all employees who may face layoff. Local 307 would not comment on any details regarding layoffs.

In a statement, Goodyear Topeka Plant Manager Tim Davis confirmed from 200 to 225 workers would be affected. The Topeka facility currently employs 1600 people.

"Goodyear is pleased the membership of USW Local 307 has voted to support the tentative agreement," Davis said in the statement. "This agreement will allow needed flexibility in the production schedule at the Topeka plant during these challenging economic times."

Davis says the majority of the plant will continue to operate at six and two-thirds continuous schedule. The plant's medium radial truck division will run at reduced capacity, while OTR and military Hummer tire production will remain unchanged.

Goodyear layoffs proposed

2009-03-05T08:47:00.001-05:00

The Topeka Capital-Journal, March 4, 2009

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will lay off 225 workers at its Topeka plant and offer up to 100 buyouts under proposed contract changes to be voted upon by union members on Thursday, WIBW-TV Channel 13 reported late Tuesday.

Workers will meet today to receive information about the package, which was tentatively agreed upon by officials from United Steelworkers Local 307 and Goodyear. Employees will then be able to vote today or all day Thursday on whether to accept the modifications.

Union officials have made no comments about the proposal. Local 307 president Robert Tripp said earlier in the week that "any specific layoff numbers will have to come from Goodyear."

Goodyear proposing to cut 400 jobs in Danville

2009-02-19T09:09:00.001-05:00

AP, February 18, 2009

Goodyear is proposing to cut more than 400 union jobs at its Danville plant among 5,000 to be eliminated companywide this year.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Keegan made that announcement Wednesday during a conference call to give the company's earnings report.

The United Steelworkers local that represents the Danville workers has scheduled a vote Thursday on a tentative agreement.

Goodyear has been in Danville since 1966, and is the city's largest employer with about 2,000 workers. It is the largest producer of commercial truck and bus tires in North America as well as aircraft tires.

A Steelworkers spokesman in Gadsden, Ala., said the Danville workers will vote on schedule changes in the part of the plant where truck tires are made.

Goodyear posted a $330 million loss in the fourth quarter and had a 21 percent decline in sales.

Goodyear cutting nearly 5,000 jobs after 4Q loss

2009-02-19T09:06:00.001-05:00

AP, February 18

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the biggest U.S. tire maker, said Wednesday it plans to cut nearly 5,000 jobs this year after a sharp drop in sales led to a loss of $330 million in the fourth quarter.

The Akron-based company said demand for new tires is weak as auto sales slump and the market for replacement tires is also down because people are driving less.

The job cuts equal almost 7 percent of the company's work force and follow the elimination of about 4,000 jobs in the second half of last year.

Goodyear's loss in the three months ended Dec. 31 amount to $1.37 per share, compared with a profit of $52 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company lost $1.18 per share, excluding one-time charges or gains, in the most recent quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $1.03 cents per share on that basis.

Revenue dipped 21 to $4.1 billion from $5.2 billion a year earlier.

The company said the global economy depressed the number of tires sold in the recent quarter by 19 percent.

As a strategy to boost sales, Goodyear said it will step up new product offerings. These include its Assurance Fuel Max tire, which was introduced earlier this month and will go on General Motors' new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle.

Besides the job cuts, Goodyear is freezing salaries, putting restrictions on some spending and putting in place purchasing strategies aimed at lowering raw materials costs.

Goodyear also plans to reduce its global tire capacity by 15 million and 25 million tires over two years while seeking ways to improve cash flow this year. It is reducing capital expenditures, inventory levels and is looking to sell noncore assets.

Robert J. Keegan, Goodyear chairman and chief executive officer, said the actions reflect new economic realities.

In a conference call Wednesday morning with analysts, Keegan said Goodyear is feeling the impact of a down market for new cars and people driving fewer miles.

"Today's economic uncertainty, the new economic realities of the world and the implications for our industry and for Goodyear are extremely challenging," Keegan told analysts. "The global economic slowdown has increased both in severity and geographic scope throughout the year. By year end, it had a significant impact in volume in each of our major business units."

Goodyear sales in North America were helped by higher tire prices and market-share gains for Goodyear-branded consumer replacement tires.

But fourth-quarter sales at its North American Tire Segment fell to $1.94 billion, from $2.28 billion a year ago, reflecting lower demand and the sale of its T&WA tire mounting business. The segment had a $193 million loss, versus a profit of $40 million the prior year's fourth quarter.

For all of 2008, Goodyear had a loss of $77 million, or 32 cents per share, versus a profit in 2007 of $602 million, or $2.65 per share. The 2007 result included an after-tax gain of $508 million, or $2.19 per share, on the sale of the company's former engineered products business.

Sales last year were $19.5 billion, slightly less than 2007's company record of $19.6 billion.

Keegan wasn't specific about the timing of the job cuts or where they may be made. But he did say adjustments in staffing and hours at some plants could lead to fewer workers, and he praised the United Steelworkers union for its cooperation.

He said the company reached a tentative deal with local Steelworker leadership at Goodyear's Danville, Va. plant to cut capacity and reduce the work force by about 400 people. The agreement will be voted on by the membership Thursday.

Kevin Johnsen, Goodyear contract coordinator and a staff representative with the Steelworkers in Gadsden, Ala., said the Danville plant will vote on schedule changes in the part of the plant where truck tires are made. He wouldn't be more specific until after union members vote.

"We always have concerns about companies laying off members and we'll do everything that we can to protect our members," Johnsen said. "Other than Danville, Goodyear has not come to us and said they are looking at this plant or that plant."

In Goodyear's home city, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic said he appreciates Goodyear's efforts to remain a financially healthy company.

"My thoughts today are first and foremost with employees who face the loss of their jobs." Plusquellic said. "That's why mayors sought to shore-up the safety net for families as part of the Recovery Act signed by the president."

Goodyear shares rose 36 cents, or 6 percent, to close Wednesday at $6.38. Goodyear shares have traded in a one-year range of $3.93 to $30.10.

Goodyear plant's future hinges on vote

2009-02-12T08:46:00.001-05:00

GodAndRiver.com, February 11, 2009

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and USW Local 831 negotiators have reached a tentative agreement on operations at the Danville plant in the face of an inventory surplus from the economic downturn.

Union members will vote on the agreement Feb. 19, according to the union’s Web site and Jo Andrews, communications manager for Goodyear in Danville.

Andrews also said Wednesday that the third partial furlough, scheduled for Feb. 21-28, would not take place.

“It has been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date,” Andrews said.

Details of the agreement have not been released to the public. They will be presented to union members during two meetings on Feb. 19 at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research. The meetings will be at 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Union members will vote on the agreement that day following the presentations. The vote will be by secret ballot, and polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to the union’s Web site.

The union’s local bargaining committee first met with local and corporate management Feb. 2.

“The company’s presentation was short and to the point about how the economic downturn is drastically affecting the tire industry,” according to a statement on the union’s Web site. “It is evident that the partial weeks out are not effectively reducing inventories.”

Goodyear officials returned to Danville for meetings Monday and Tuesday with the union on how to best reduce inventory and keep the Danville plant running efficiently.

Goodyear execs, union talking in Danville

2009-02-10T11:07:00.001-05:00

Danville Register & Bee, February 10, 2009

Goodyear executives and union leaders are meeting this week to discuss the future of the company’s Danville plant.

Company executives arrived Monday and are expected to be in Danville through Wednesday.

The meeting follows last week’s session where United Steelworkers Local 831 officials were told recent furloughs have not done enough to reduce huge inventories. Danville plant workers just returned from a second weeklong furlough, with another scheduled for later this month.

Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear says restructuring plans will be announced Feb. 18 when yearly and fourth-quarter results are released.

With at least 2,000 workers, the Goodyear plant is Danville’s largest employer.

Union to host meeting on Goodyear's efficiency

2009-02-05T08:08:00.001-05:00

Madison Messenger, February 4, 2009

United Steelworkers Local 831 members will meet for the second time in less than two weeks Monday to discuss ways of reducing inventory to keep Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s Danville plant operating efficiently, according to the union’s Web site.

Members of the union’s bargaining committee met with local and corporate management on Monday to talk about the future of the Danville plant.

Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear said Tuesday it would be announcing cost-cutting plans Feb. 18, when it releases its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings for 2008.

Danville Goodyear employees who produce truck tires are currently on the second of three weeklong furloughs the company announced in December. The last furlough is scheduled to take place Feb. 21-28.

A posting on Local 831’s Web site reads: “It is evident that the partial weeks out are not effectively reducing inventories. Meetings are scheduled for next week beginning Monday, Feb. 9th to discuss other options on how to best reduce the inventory and continue to operate the Danville plant efficiently.”

Representatives of the union either could not be reached Wednesday or refused to comment on the meetings. Jo Andrews, communications manager at Goodyear’s Danville plant, said Wednesday she couldn’t share any details about the company’s plans.

Goodyear, the city’s largest employer, employs more than 2,000 workers.

Goodyear trimming overtime hours

2009-01-26T09:14:00.001-05:00

The Fayetteville Observer, January 24, 2009

Faced with lower demand for tires, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant on Ramsey Street has limited its crews to a 40-hour work week.

Most of Goodyear’s roughly 3,000 employees in Fayetteville had, until this month, been working at least 42 hours per week. That’s because the plant operates on a 12-hour, continuous operation schedule that automatically builds in two hours of overtime.

“The plant is taking out two hours of overtime per week on each crew,” plant spokesman Richard Evans said in a written statement.

The move isn’t sitting well with some employees, said Mike Price, vice president of United Steelworkers Local 959.

“That costs you money,” Price said. “In some instances that’s $100 a week, $400 a month.”

Although Goodyear took several weeks off during 2008 to bring inventory in line with demand, Price said that until late last year, some employees had been logging overtime beyond the two hours built into the schedule.

The union is filing a grievance over the latest move to the 40-hour work week and will see where arbitration takes it, Price said.

But he said Goodyear’s decision is not without logic.

“This is a savings to the company,” Price said. “And we understand why the company is doing this. Everybody is trying to save money right now. But if you’re the one losing that money it can be hard. ”

Employees aren’t happy about missing out on two hours of pay, he said.

“But at least they’re working 40 hours a week and still getting a paycheck with no threat of any kind of layoff at this point,” Price said.

The schedule for reducing the hours will vary “based on such things as customer demand and crew alignment,” Evans said in his statement.

“The important thing is that the hours be the same for all crews so it is fair for all crews,” he added.

This is the second week the 40-hour week plan is in effect, Price said.

“There could be one week where we get orders in and we won’t have to take two hours away,” Price said. “That could go for two or three weeks and then we get too many tires and we’ll have to do it again.”

Consumer demand continues to be an issue across the tire industry. This week, Goodyear competitor, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, announced that in Tennessee it is eliminating 543 jobs in the consumer tire production side.

Job Cuts Expected at Goodyear in Poland

2008-12-26T07:51:00.000-05:00

Esmerk, December 24, 2008

The management at the Debica tyre manufacturer, which is controlled by the US company Goodyear, has announced that collective bargaining negotiations will take pace in the near future. No details could be obtained from Debica's management, although it is thought that this will mean job cuts. The announcement comes in the middle of an enforced standstill in production at the company's factory, due to lack of demand. A representative of one of the unions said that he has no doubt that the company is seeking to cut labour costs, through job cuts. This is despite the companies assurances that there would be no group redundancies, when it negotiated with the staff that they would receive no pay rise for the first eight months of 2009.

Goodyear off for holidays

2008-12-10T10:24:00.001-05:00

The Fayetteville Observer, December 9, 2008

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will take a break from production at its Fayetteville plant between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2.

“We’ve known it was coming,” said Daryl Jackson, president of United Steelworkers Local 959. The official announcement happened Friday, he added.

This will be the fifth week of production halts this year.

Richard Evans, spokesman for the plant on Ramsey Street that employs about 3,000 people, said production will stop at 7 a.m. on Dec. 24 and resume at 7 a.m. on Jan 2.

Because employees will be paid for the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, they won’t be off the clock long enough to qualify for unemployment claims, Jackson said. During previous production halts this year, workers were able to collect unemployment.

If there is money in the “sub-pay” trust fund, which is contracted between the company and United Steelworkers, it will be made available, Jackson said.

Given the dire situation with the economy and Detroit automakers, union members are generally relieved that they didn’t end up taking more time off than this, Jackson said.

“It’s like I told the membership — with the Big Three in the shape that they’re in, we’re fortunate that we’re 99.9 percent in the replacement market,” Jackson said. Plants dealing in original equipment — tires that go on new cars — are in a far worse position, he said.

Plant officials have said that the four prior weeks of production halts this year were to bring inventory in line with demand.

That’s partly the reason again.

“But this is more of a standard practice at the end of the year,” Evans said. “We’ve done this a number of times.”

During a conference call with investors last month, Goodyear officials told analysts that additional production halts were likely.

“As we continue to manage to the current market conditions, we’ll accelerate our action under our ‘cash is king’ strategy,” Robert J. Keegan, Goodyear’s chairman and chief executive officer, told investors at that time. “We will manage aggressively for cash.”

Part of that means making necessary production cutbacks, said Keegan, who added that demand indicators point to a continued “challenging” environment at least through the middle of 2009.

News from Goodyear Chile

2008-12-08T16:54:00.001-05:00

News from Goodyear Chile - the union denounces Goodyear's action in Chile. During Oct - Nov, around 250 workers from the shop floor and adminstration were fired. Admin of the company says that for 2009, production projection is not higher than the 3,200,000/yr, even though it was to get to 5,000,000/year. They also said they would end the the work schedule of 4 shifts (6 days worked, 2 off) - ergo the great number of workers gone.

In November, the Union leadership gave the company suggestions for possible cuts that would preserve jobs and at the same time give the company the biggest margin to manage the crisis. We regret that the company gnored our proposals and opted for the most drammatic action for the workers and their families, mass firings.

We need direct information on Goodyear's projections from the USA, and the vision from the rest of Latin America.

We send fraternal greetings to all of our brothers in the region during such difficult times.

Board of Directors, Number 1 Workers Union, Goodyear, Chile

Gerald:
La Organizacion del Sindicato de Trabajadores Nº1 de Goodyear de Chile, denuncia el actuar de la trasnacional Goodyear en nuestro pais.
Durante los meses Octubre- Noviembre fueron despedidas alrededor de 250 personas siendo estos trabajadores de piso y administrativos.
La administracion informa que para el año 2009 la pryeccion de produccion no supera los 3.200.000 de neumaticos al año, siendo que hasta hace un tiempo atras, esa proyeccion llegaba a los 5.000.000 de unidades anual.
ademas informarmamos el termino de la jornada continua de 4 turnos (6 dias trabajados y 2 dias libres) y por ende la salida de gran cantidad de trabajadores.
La Directiva del Sindicato a inicios del mes de noviembre planteo a la administracion de la empresa posibles recortes en la reajustabilidad de nuestros sueldos y por otra parte un recorte de porcentaje del sueldo base, buscando darle a la empresa un mayor margen en la viabilidad del manejo en esta crisis y con el objetivo claro de mantener los puestos de trabajo. Lamentamos que la empresa haya hecho caso omiso de estas propuestas y opto por lo mas dramatico para con los trabajadores y sus familias, el despedido masivo.

(quisieramos tener informacion directa de las proyecciones de las plantas Goodyear en EEUU y la vision del resto de las plantas en sudamerica).

Desde Chile un abrazo fraterno pàra todos los compañeros hermanos de la region, en momentos tan dificiles.
Comunicaciones.
Directiva Sindicato Nº 1 de Trabajadores de Goodyear Chile

Goodyear halts Turkey factory production for 10 days

2008-12-08T09:54:00.002-05:00

Reuters, December 7, 2008

Two Goodyear Tire factories in Turkey will halt production for ten days in December and January, state-run Anatolian reported a union President Abdullah Karacan as saying.

The two factories in Adapazari and Kocaeli will be closed Dec. 12-17, and from Jan. 2-7. due to lower demand in the sector, said Karacan, who is the president of Turkey's petroleum, chemical and tire union.

He said that production at the factories had decreased 30 percent to 60 percent. No one at the company was immediately available to comment. (Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Goodyear Dunlop cuts 147 jobs in western New York

2008-12-02T08:53:00.002-05:00

The Buffalo News, December 1, 2008

TONAWANDA, N.Y. - Union officials say Goodyear Dunlop has cut 147 jobs at its western New York plant because of a slowdown in tire sales.

The company announced plans to reduce its Tonawanda workforce in October, saying it was decreasing production of passenger auto tires and commercial truck tires amid declining demand by the auto industry.

United Steelworkers of America Local 135 says 52 workers took buyouts and 95 workers were laid off Monday.

Production of motorcycle tires was not affected.

Fourth Asia-Pacific Goodyear Rubber Workers' Network Meets in Jakarta, Indonesia

2008-11-03T18:48:00.001-05:00

ICEM, November 3

The fourth regional meeting of the Asia-Pacific Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Workers’ Network was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 28 October, with 20 delegates from five Asian nations attending. Previous Goodyear Asia-Pacific network meetings were held in Manila, Philippines, in 2005; Singapore in 2002; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2000.

“The continuity of our regional network activity since 2000 shows the commitment of participating unions for international solidarity and cooperation, which gives us high hopes for the future,” stated Toshiaki Hojo, President of the Japanese Rubber Workers’ Union Confederation (GOMU-RENGO). “It is very important to carry out our activities in parallel with ICEM’s Goodyear Global Union Network.”

Hojo added that the Asia-Pacific Workers’ Network of the American company has worked successfully on health and safety issues, and pledged to do more on this issue.

Delegates evaluated past activities of the Goodyear Global and Asia-Pacific Region networks, and the meeting received a detailed report on Goodyear’s financial situation and the labour relations of a company that employs 70,000 workers in 60 factories, operating in 25 countries. Delegates on 28 October identified specific situations in their plants by giving current figures on salaries, working hours, and collective bargaining developments.

Health and safety was handled in a separate session, in which past histories were summarized by ICEM Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal Özkan. Following, specific health and safety problems were put forward, and the importance of information exchange was highlighted. The ICEM was requested to provide some information on global standards, specifically on heat limits and safety glasses.

After discussing the ICEM’s 2009 World Conference for the Rubber Industries and other industry conferences to occur next year, the meeting decided – through an action plan – to escalate targeting of joint organising efforts, to focus on training and education programmes, as well as to engage in regular and detailed information exchange through electronic means.

The 2008 regional network meeting also adopted a special announcement toward further action for reinstatement of Thai and Malaysian colleagues, workers who have been unjustly fired by the company.

Goodyear Dunlop plant will try buyouts before layoffs

2008-11-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

Associated Press, October 31

Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America’s Town of Tonawanda plant will first offer buyouts to hourly workers in its push to reduce its work force by as many as 150 hourly positions.

The company is presenting details of the buyout packages to employees and will give them about two weeks to decide whether to sign up for them, said Diane Zwirecki, a spokeswoman at the Sheridan Drive tire plant. Details of the packages were not disclosed.

If necessary, the plant would then turn to voluntary layoffs to trim its work force. The final step, also if necessary, would be to make involuntary layoffs beginning Dec. 1. Laid-off workers would be eligible to be called back, Zwirecki said.

The plant is reducing its work force as it scales back production of passenger auto tires and commercial truck tires, in response to a slowdown in vehicle sales, Zwirecki said.

Starting Dec. 1, production of those types of tires will be reduced to five days a week at the plant from the current seven-day-a-week schedule.

The plant also makes motorcycle tires, including for Harley-Davidson, but that business segment is unaffected, she said.

The plant has about 1,100 hourly workers, who are represented by the United Steelworkers of America, and about 150 salaried workers. An additional 50 salaried employees work at Goodyear Dunlop’s offices in Amherst.

The plant produces about 5,500 passenger auto tires a day and about 4,700 motorcycle tires a day. It makes about 2,000 commercial truck tires a day.

Earlier this week, a Steelworkers official said the plant has not had layoffs since 1979.

In 2006, the Steelworkers went on strike against Goodyear- affiliated plants in Tonawanda and elsewhere in the United States for about three months. The workers ended up approving a three-year contract.

Goodyear to close for week

2008-10-21T21:43:00.000-05:00

The Fayetteville Observer, October 21

Goodyear is taking another weeklong break from making tires in Fayetteville.

That means that workers will again have to draw unemployment benefits for a time.

Production at the Ramsey Street plant will be put on pause from Saturday through Nov. 1, said plant spokesman Richard Evans.

The reason, Evans said, is to “align production with reduced customer demand.”

That’s the same reason Goodyear officials gave for a two-week halt in Fayetteville in August, which followed a one-week halt in July.

So this will be the fourth week that the plant will sit idle this year — a year in which motorists have been driving fewer miles and therefore putting less wear on their tires.

A corporate Goodyear spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Monday.

But the trade publication Modern Tire Dealer reported Friday that in addition to the Fayetteville plant, Goodyear facilities in Union City, Tenn., and Gadsen, Ala., would halt production during the last week in October. The publication also reported that Goodyear’s Lawton, Okla., plant will take off four Sundays in a row.

Goodyear employs about 3,000 people and is Cumberland County’s largest corporate tax payer with a total tax bill of $1.6million last year.

Fayetteville employees who will stay home during the weeklong halt will be eligible for unemployment benefits during that time, said Daryl Jackson, president of United Steelworkers Local 959. But it won’t match what a typical Goodyear employee earns.

Still, Jackson said, “if you look around and you see what’s going on with layoffs, we’re fortunate. As it stands, we’re just going to be off that last week in October and possibly a week around Christmas, although there’s no definite answer on (December).”

Officials with Goodyear and the union say the production halts shouldn’t be seen as a precursor to layoffs.

Jackson said he has heard some recent break-room buzz about job cuts. But to his knowledge, there is no truth to any of the rumors.

“Part of the reason for taking time out is so that (Goodyear) won’t have to lay anybody off,” Jackson said.

Evans, the company spokesman, said: “Goodyear monitors the market every week and makes adjustments when needed. And no, there have been no announcements other than the one week in October.

But he added: “Who can speculate within this economy?”

He could not address any later production halts.

Beyond the what is planned for next week, Evans said, “there are no additional announcements from Goodyear.”

Jackson said the automotive industry, like the housing market, is hurting. That obviously affects the plants that feed the market.

“Every time you pick up the newspaper or listen to the news, there’s another plant shutting down,” Jackson said.

He mentioned Georgia Pacific’s recent announcement that it would “indefinitely idle” its lumber plant in Columbus County, where 350 people work.

“We’re very fortunate to be in the situation that we are in,” Jackson said.

“We are still in bad economic times, but it’s going to get better,” he said. “I believe help is on the way.”

GOODYEAR-DUNLOP AMIENS MANAGEMENT SEES CASE REJECTED

2008-09-19T06:43:00.001-05:00

Le Figaro, September 18

The Amiens magistrates' court has thrown out a case brought by the management of US tyre manufacturer Goodyear-Dunlop, which had asked that the court annul a request for an expert opinion on the consequences of the company's restructuring plan at its French factory in Amiens.

According to trade union CGT, the decision will call the plan into question. The company's management acknowledged that the ruling will delay the implementation of its plans to reduce production at the factory.

Goodyear to cut European truck tire production

2008-09-08T09:57:00.001-05:00

COLMAR-BERG, Luxembourg (Sept. 5, 2008) — Goodyear said it will cut truck tire production considerably at its European factories through the end of the year because of declining European demand for truck tires and subsequent build-up of stocks.

Most affected will be Goodyear’s plant in Colmar-Berg, where production is being scaled back starting the week of Sept. 7 to six days a week and the Christmas break extended to 10 days, Goodyear said.

Earthmover tire production at the Luxembourg plant, which employs 1,300 in tire manufacturing, will not be affected, the tire maker said.

Besides at Colmar-Berg, Goodyear makes truck tires in Europe at plants in Hanau and Wittlich, Germany; Debica, Poland; Montlucon, France; and Kranj, Slovenia. The company did not release specifics of the cutbacks at these plants nor quantify by how much production is being reduced.

“Our immediate concern lies with our employees directly affected by this necessary decision,” said John Jentgen, director of manufacturing at Luxembourg. “Along with our social partners, we have developed an action plan preventing any layoffs of Goodyear workers.

“Our staff is nonetheless required to take their remaining vacation on the production-free days before any measures of reduced working hours can be implemented.”

In its half-year financial report Goodyear reported 22-percent higher operating income in its Europe, Middle East and Africa tire unit on 15.3-percent higher sales, although it said unit sales volume was down 5 percent during the second quarter and 2.8 percent during the first half.

Goodyear closing stores

2008-08-20T08:48:00.001-05:00

Reuters, August 20, 2008

Goodyear Tire & Rubber said it would close 12 per cent, or 92, of its company-owned U.S. stores and cut 600 full- and part-time jobs as the U.S. economic downturn put more pressure on the company.

The company owns 742 stores in the United States.

Goodyear, the largest tire maker in the U.S. by sales, said it would take after-tax charges of about $30 million in connection with the closings, half of which would be recorded in the third quarter. The company said the closings would enable it to eliminate $9 million in annual losses.

In July, Goodyear said it was confident it would be able to navigate the near-term economic challenges, especially in North America. At that time, it said second-quarter net income rose to $75 million, or 31 cents per share, from $56 million a year earlier.

Goodyear shuts down Fayetteville plant for two weeks

2008-08-18T13:22:00.000-05:00

WRAL.com, August 16, 2008

Goodyear plans to close its Fayetteville plant for two weeks as part of a nationwide effort to let demand catch up to supply.

Nearly 3,000 employees became out of work when the plant shut down at 1 p.m. Saturday, said Daryll Jackson, president of the Steelworkers Union Local 959. The plant normally produces around 30,000 tires a day.

Employees were encouraged to schedule vacation around the shutdown and will be eligible for unemployment benefits during the second week, Jackson said.

Jackson said about 70 percent of Goodyear's plants across the United States will be involved in the shutdown.

The tire manufacturer is letting plants idle, because high fuel prices and broader economic troubles have dampened demand, he said.

Goodyear recently reported that its domestic sales fell 6 percent in the second quarter of 2008.

The company might do another weeklong round of inventory reduction around Christmas if sales do not improve, Jackson said.

Goodyear is eligible for $24 million in economic incentives over the next 10 years as part of a package passed during a special session of the state Legislature in September 2007.

To receive the incentives, Goodyear must have at least 2,000 workers, invest $200 million over a six-year period and maintain average wages that are 40 percent higher than the local average to qualify. The company loses a portion of annual grant as its overall employments falls. If employment slips by 20 percent, Goodyear would lose its entire grant.

Goodyear Union Notified Of Another Layoff

2008-07-23T17:39:00.001-05:00

Tyler Morning Telegraph, July 23, 2008

Workers at Tyler's Goodyear plant were notified on Tuesday of another
impending layoff.

Harold Sweat, president of United Steelworkers Local 746L, said the
layoff will occur Sept. 22-Oct. 6 and include about 70 people.

Goodyear referred to the layoffs as "permanent separation."

The company issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
(WARN) Act notice of the layoffs, and the notice also contained a phrase
saying the plant "will be permanently closed," Sweat said.

"After many months of thorough review, Goodyear has decided to close the
entire Tyler plant," Sweat read from the notice.

This will leave the plant with about 25 to 30 people, he said.

The union and the company have agreed that some workers will stay on for
a longer period of time after this layoff. Sweat said the ones remaining
will work through a phase of the plant's closure. He said the company
has not provided the union with a list of jobs they will perform.

Tuesday's announcement was the second such WARN act notice received by
the plant in less than two months.

On June 6, Goodyear notified the union that about 110 people would be
laid off in August. Sweat said that layoff has been set for Aug. 8. He
said workers and their spouses will attend meetings in the plant on
Thursday to get details about benefits and compensation packages.

Workers released in this layoff, the just-announced September-October
layoff and an ultimate plant closure will be covered by the compensation
package in the Goodyear proposal that the union ratified on Friday.

Sweat said 94 percent of the members voting cast their vote for
ratification.

The master union contract stipulated the plant be kept open until the
contract expires, in July 2009, but the union's ratification of the
company's proposal gave Goodyear the right to close it early.

Efforts to reach the company on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

During the last contract negotiations between the company and the USW,
the union struggled to keep the Tyler plant open, and the three-year
master contract guaranteed the Tyler plant would be kept open through
Dec. 31, 2007.

The company, however, ceased tire production there, reduced the plant's
employee base by several hundred people and retained the plant as a
rubber-mixing operation.

Amy Brei, Goodyear manager of manufacturing communications, last week
said that a date for plant closure had not been set.

She said the company was seeking to close the plant early because of a
decrease in the requirement for rubber mixed in Tyler. Goodyear stock
closed up $1.49 to settle at $20.02 on Tuesday.

Workers at Goodyear Ratify Contract to Close Plant Early

2008-07-21T07:26:00.001-05:00

CBS19.tv, July 18, 2008

UNION MEMBERS VOTE TODAY TO RATIFY THEIR CONTRACT WITH GOODYEAR SO THE TIRE GIANT CAN SHUT DOWN TYLER'S PLANT EARLIER THAN EXPECTED.

CBS 19'S MICHELE REESE JOINS US WITH THE RESULTS.

DURING THREE DIFFERENT VOTING MEETINGS TODAY... UNION MEMBERS VOTED TO ACCEPT GOODYEAR'S PROPOSAL TO SHUT THE PLANT DOWN EARLY......

WORKERS WE SPOKE WITH ....SAY WHILE IT WAS A TOUGH DECISION...GOODYEAR MADE A DEAL THAT WAS TOUGH TO PASS UP.

AT 7 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING...

"Its a real sad feeling."

WORKERS LIKE KEITH GOODMAN...FILED IN TO THE LOCAL STEELWORKERS UNION HALL TO VOTE TO CLOSE A PLANT..SO MANY FOUGHT SO HARD TO SAVE...

"Spending so many years in a place and to go out is a disappointing feeling."

"It's hard for me to let go.."

MARCUS HOWARD SAYS WHILE IT'S DIFFICULT CHECKING YES ON THE BALLOT...

AFTER HEARING GOODYEAR'S DEAL... IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO SAY NO...

"It was sweet. Can't turn that down.It would be stupid to vote no."

MOST OTHER WORKERS AGREED..

"They say here and told us they were gonna close it down so I voted yes if we voted no we might come up empty handed."

"It was a real good deal.. Some people benefited better than others but we got all in all with the unions help negotiating everybody got a real good package out of it."

THE DEAL INCLUDES A PAYMENT FOR EACH YEAR OF SERVICE TO THE PLANT...

....AND WILL BE PAID IN A LUMP SUM.

"They had to buy us off and they did a good job..they opened up their checkbook."

"Probably the best way to get out of here so people can get on with their lives.."

SO AS UNION MEMBERS SAY "Goodbye to Goodyear.."

TYLER'S DREAMS OF KEEPING THE TIRE PLANT OPEN ARE DEFLATED...FOR GOOD.

WHEN THE PLANT WILL CLOSE FOR GOOD IS STILL UP THE AIR..

UNION PRESIDENT HAROLD SWEAT SAYS TODAYS VOTE GIVES GOODYEAR THE CHANCE TO CLOSE THE PLANT AS EARLY AS TOMORROW IF THEY WANT..

BUT GOODYEAR HAS STILL NOT GIVEN AN OFFICIAL CLOSURE DATE..

GOODYEAR-DUNLOP TO MAKE 402 JOB CUTS IN AMIENS

2008-07-17T05:58:00.000-05:00

Les Echos, July 16, 2008

The management of US tyre manufacturer Goodyear-Dunlop has confirmed plans to axe 402 jobs at its plant in Amiens, France after trade union CGT exercised its right to oppose an agreement on the planned restructuring of working time at the factory.

Chairman and CEO Olivier Rousseau said CGT's rejection of the agreement, which was signed by only two unions, left the management with no choice but to reduce the site's output by 38 per cent. The job cuts will become effective in September.

Goodyear Employees Will Vote Friday on Proposal for Early Plant Closure

2008-07-15T17:49:00.000-05:00

Tyler Paper, July 15, 2008

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. may close its Tyler plant prior to the expiration of the master union contract, thus releasing about 60 remaining employees early, if the local union membership votes to ratify an agreement for closure.Amy Brei, Goodyear manager of manufacturing communications, said the company seeks to close the plant because of a lack of demand for rubber.“The reason is there is decreased demand from our North American tire plants, which is where the rubber in our Tyler plant went, so the additional mixing capacity is no longer needed,” Ms. Brei said.Harold Sweat, United Steelworkers Local 746L president, said employees on each shift will vote Friday on the proposal when their shift is over.

“We will probably know (the vote results) as soon as that last meeting’s over, and I will have to contact our union staff representative and make him aware of the vote outcome,” Sweat said.

The union president said he did not want to comment on the proposal’s compensation package until he meets with the membership.

“Goodyear made an offer to the union to close the plant early, and the details of that agreement will be presented to the membership on Friday,” Sweat said. “They will vote on it, and if they accept it, the company will have the right to close the plant early.”

Ms. Brei said she was not made aware of the proposed compensation terms, and the company has a policy of not providing that type of information.All Goodyear tire plants have mixing capability. The Tyler plant and a plant in Valleyfield, Quebec, supply additional mixing capability, she said. Ms. Brei said the company does not have plans to close the Valleyfield facility.

The United Steelworkers’ master contract, which expires in July 2009, requires the company to shut down its Valleyfield, Quebec, plant before it closes the Tyler plant, but Ms. Brei said USW Local 746L ratification of the closure would remove that provision.

The closing would impact approximately 60 positions, which is in addition to a previously announced reduction of 110 positions that was to take effect in August.
Goodyear, in a statement, referred to the Tyler operation as a “rubber-mixing facility,” which it has been since January.

During the last contract negotiations between the company and the USW, the union struggled to keep the Tyler plant open, and the three-year master contract guaranteed the Tyler plant would be kept open through Dec. 31, 2007.

The company, however, ceased tire production there, reduced the plant’s employee base by several hundred people and retained the plant as a rubber-mixing operation.

Ms. Brei said the company has not decided if it will retain or sell the land and buildings, on Texas Highway 31 West, if the mixing operation is closed.

“There are no plans yet, one way or the other, for this facility,” she said.

Message from Sindicato de Trabajadores n°1 Goodyear de Chile

2008-07-15T06:12:00.001-05:00

estimados compañeros:

es un honor recibir noticias globales de lo que pasa con los trabajadores de la compañia goodyear, en este lejano pais que es chile.

los trabajadores de goodyear en chile, hemos sido favorecidos con una inversion cercana a los 400 millones de dolares para dotar la planta con tecnologia de punta lo cual dara una alta estabilidad a los trabajadores que puedan adaptarse a estos cambios tecnologicos, pero a aquellos que no puedan adaptarse ( trabajadores antiguos)tendremos que buscarle una salida digna por todo el esfuerzo desplegado durante sus años de sacrificio, como siempre lo ha hecho este historico sindicato que tiene a su haber 61 años de vida.

fuerza a los trabajadores franceses y que decidan lo mejor para ellos y sus familias, estamos con uds. para lo que estimen pertinente.

saludos

sindicato de trabajadores n°1 goodyear de chile

UNIONS DIVIDED OVER SHIFT PLAN AT FRENCH GOODYEAR SITE

2008-07-10T07:31:00.001-05:00

Les Echos, July 9, 2008

At the French Amiens site of US tyre manufacturer Goodyear, the deadline set by management for unions to sign an agreement regarding a planned 4x8 shift pattern passed yesterday without the green light from the two main unions at the site, SUD and CGT. This gives rise to the risk of an escalation in the tense mood at the site, where management has been forced to suspend production since the week-end owing to violent incidents. The blockade by striking workers continued yesterday in spite of a court injunction ordering that it be lifted.

According to a bailiff's report submitted by unions, the vote on June 27, at which a 73-per-cent vote was obtained in favour of the new shift working plan, was beset by irregularities. This is expected to aggravate the rift between, on one hand, the unions CFE-CGC and CFTC, which gave their seal of approval to the plan, and, on the other, CGT, Force Ouvriere and SUD. While CGT, the main union at the site, has announced its intention to exercise its right to oppose, CFTC has said that there is no alternative, and that the 4x8 shift pattern would be preferable to job losses.

EMPLOYEES AT AMIENS VOTE FOR CHANGE IN SHIFT ROTATIONS

2008-07-07T09:41:00.001-05:00

Le Figaro, June 28, 2008

Employees at the Goodyear-Dunlop site in Amiens, France, have voted in favour of a new, '4x8' shift pattern. Managers had announced that if the plans for the new rotation were rejected, they would cut 402 jobs and reduce investment in the site.

In an earlier vote a few weeks ago, staff had rejected the 4x8 pattern. The CGT union, which called on its members to boycott the vote, says that the majority of employees are against the change.

Goodyear factory to close with loss of 600 jobs

2008-06-26T08:00:00.002-05:00

The Age, June 26, 2008

Cheap foreign imports have been blamed for the closure of a Melbourne tyre factory with the loss of almost 600 jobs.

In another blow for Australia's struggling automotive industry, South Pacific Tyres (SPT), based at Somerton, north of Melbourne, will shut its doors on December 31.

Chief executive Judith Swales said the factory had become unviable and could not compete with imports when production costs overseas were up to six times cheaper.

She admitted that parent company Goodyear had imported cheaper products from China and other markets, but said SPT could not keep going because consumer needs had changed.

Rival tyre producer Bridgestone said the move would leave it as the only tyre manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand.

Ms Swales said a lack of cost competitiveness was a key factor in not proceeding with a $150 million upgrade of the SPT site.

"Given the cost, the magnitude of an upgrade that we would need to put in place, we don't have the volume, the capacity, in this market," she told reporters in Melbourne.

In a statement issued by Goodyear from its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, chairman and chief executive Robert Keegan said closing the SPT plant would save Goodyear about $36.5 million a year.

Many employees hit by the decision have young families and mortgages. Others have been with the company for 30 years and could struggle to find other work.

Alf Chetcuti, who has worked for the company for 20 years, said the closure would hit workers when they went home to their families.

"That's when it hits you that at the end of year, you will be out of a job," said Mr Chetcuti, 38, who has two children aged seven and nine months.

Phil Brilliant, 52, who has been with the company for 30 years, said: "It's a kick in the teeth, I'm really disappointed".

Union leaders called on the federal government to act urgently to save Australia's auto manufacturing industry.

SPT's demise follows the announcement earlier this month that more than 531 jobs would go at Holden's Fisherman's Bend plant in Melbourne next year.

It also comes after Ford last year announced it would axe up to 600 jobs at its Geelong plant from 2010.

Holden axed 600 jobs in Adelaide last year and Mitsubishi cut 100 jobs in Adelaide in February.

National Union of Workers (NUW) Victorian secretary Antony Thow said a major review of the Australian car industry - headed by former Victorian premier Steve Bracks - was welcome, but the federal government needed to do more.

Mr Thow said Goodyear had moved prematurely in announcing the closure before the Bracks review.

"It's very important we support manufacturing workers. They're highly paid, highly skilled jobs," he told Sky News.

Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr said the closure was a sign of the challenges facing the Australian car industry.

"This is exactly why we are running an extensive review of the industry, being conducted by Steve Bracks, to establish the right policies to ensure a stable future for automotive manufacturing in this country," he said.

SPT said all employee entitlements would be honoured under their enterprise bargaining agreement.

Under the collective agreement, employees would on average receive 18 months' pay, said plant manager Gary Rowley.

Goodyear has about 70,000 employees in more than 60 factories in 26 countries.

Turkey's 14-Day Rubber Strike Ends with 14% First year Wage Gain

2008-06-16T16:58:00.001-05:00

ICEM InBrief, June 16, 2008

A 14-day tyre strike by 4,000 members of ICEM affiliate Lastik-İş in Turkey ended Friday night, 13 June, and workers at three multinational rubber companies were back on their jobs for the afternoon shift on 14 June.

The strike ended when a two-year accord was reached between the union and the three employers, who jointly represent the tyre industry in talks. The companies include Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, and Pirelli.

The 13 June bargaining was the first set of negotiations since the strike began on 31 May. Talks first began on a renewal labour agreement for 2008-2009 at the four tyre factories in September 2007.

The two sides agreed to a 14% pay increase for the year 2008, and an increase equaling the Turkish rate of inflation for 2009. In 2007, the Turkish rate of inflation was 8.39% and is expected to rise above that this year. Lastik-İş had sought a 12% wage hike for the first six months of 2008, with increases matching the inflation rate in each six-month period through 2009.

All levels of social benefits will also increase by the inflation rate over the life of the labour agreement. The ICEM considers the 2008-2009 Turkish rubber agreement a major achievement, considering wage and social benefit gains were stymied in the late 1990s and early years of this decade due to strike bans imposed by the Turkish government.

“We didn’t make any concessions, we preserved our contractual and work-rule provisions, and we posted substantial economic gains,” stated Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. “The decisiveness of our union members at these four factories was effective and ultimately proved successful in bargaining.”

The four tyre plants, which saw workers return to work at 16h00 on 14 June, include: two of US-based Goodyear in Izmit and Adapazari, and one each operated by Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, a joint venture between Japan-based Bridgestone and the Turkish Sabanci Group, and by Italian-based Pirelli. Both of the latter two are located in the city of Izmit.

Goodyear Announces 110 More Layoffs in Tyler

2008-06-15T06:55:00.001-05:00

Tyler Morning Telegraph, June 12, 2008

Goodyear has announced to the United Steelworkers Union that it will lay
off about 110 people - about two-thirds - of the workforce remaining at
its Tyler plant between Aug. 6 and Aug. 19.

A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice sent
to the union stated the "permanent mass layoff has been necessitated by
a lack of work at the plant."

Amy Brei, Goodyear spokeswoman, said about 60 employees will be left.

"There has been a decrease in the requirements needed for that rubber
from Tyler," Ms. Brei said of the Tyler plant, which retained its mixing
operation after a mass layoff at the end of last year.

The company, however, ceased tire production there, reduced the plant's
employee base by several hundred and retained the plant as a
rubber-mixing operation.

"I feel like this is a further reduction toward the total closure of the
plant," USW Local President Harold Sweat said Thursday.

The union's master contract, which expires in July 2009, requires the
company to shut down the Canadian Valleyfield plant before it closes the
Tyler plant, Sweat said.

Husband of woman killed in plant blast criticizes managers

2008-06-15T06:52:00.001-05:00

AP Wire, June 12, 2008

A Goodyear retiree whose wife was found dead at the company's plant
hours after an early morning explosion said Wednesday rescue workers
should have searched sooner and more thoroughly for her.

The body of Gloria McInnis, 55, a production supervisor at the plant,
was found under debris about seven hours after the 7:30 a.m. blast in a
heat exchange unit at the plant, said Goodyear spokesman Scott Baughman.

Her husband, Raymond McInnis, who worked at the plant for 38 years,
questioned the methods used by plant officials to find his wife's body.

"They let her lay there seven hours," McInnis told the Houston
Chronicle. "Was she dead at the time (of the explosion), or did she die
later?"

Baughman did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press
seeking comment on McInnis's complaints, but he told the Chronicle,
"Those are some of the issues we're looking into this morning."

Gloria McInnis had been a Goodyear employee for 32 years. Her husband,
71, retired 12 years ago.

Six others were injured during the incident. Five other workers were
treated and released for injuries after the incident and a sixth was
being held for observation.

The explosion also caused a small release of ammonia, which is used as a
refrigerant to cool processed liquids.

The six injured were treated on-site by the plant's medical team before
being transferred to local hospitals. Baughman said the damage and small
ammonia spill were contained in a small area of the plant, which makes
synthetic rubber for the production of tires.

The plant was evacuated for several hours after the explosion. About 200
people were in the plant at the time.

There was no danger to the public, plant officials said.

The plant was given an "all-clear" around 11 a.m., when employees were
allowed back in to the facility.

Plant officials were investigating the cause of the explosion and trying
to determine how much ammonia was spilled.

Worker killed, 6 hurt in Houston plant explosion

2008-06-12T06:18:00.000-05:00

AP Wire, June 12, 2008

A chemical plant worker was killed and six others injured during an early morning explosion and ammonia leak Wednesday at the Goodyear Houston plant.

The body of the worker, whose name was not released, was found under debris about seven hours after the 7:30 a.m. blast in a heat exchange unit at the plant, said Goodyear spokesman Scott Baughman.

Five of the workers have been treated and released and a sixth was being held for observation.

The explosion also caused a small release of ammonia, which is used as a refrigerant to cool processed liquids.

The six injured were treated on-site by the plant's medical team before being transferred to local hospitals. Baughman said the damage and small ammonia spill were contained in a small area of the plant, which makes synthetic rubber for the production of tires.

The plant was evacuated for several hours after the explosion. About 200 people were in the plant at the time.

There was no danger to the public, plant officials said.

The plant was given an "all-clear" around 11 a.m., when employees were allowed back in to the facility. The area near the explosion remained closed, Baughman said.

The blast happened in one of the plant's three heat exchanging units, which are about 2 feet wide and 15 feet long. The units use ammonia, Baughman said.

Plant officials were investigating the cause of the explosion and trying to determine how much ammonia was spilled.

News from the Slovenian KNG

2008-06-03T13:14:00.000-05:00

Workers at the Goodyear-owned Sava Tire in Slovenia are becoming increasingly frustrated with contract negotiations. The union is being told that inventory is high and second quarter sales are way down. The company says it is looking to lower cost 150 million Euros, about the same amount of money needed to build another plant in Russia. The Slovenia workers are asking why the need for so many cuts in light of the company's global profits and why build a new factory with an already filled market.

4,000 Turkish Rubber Workers Strike Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Pirelli

2008-06-02T13:08:00.001-05:00

ICEM InBrief, June 2, 2008

ICEM Turkish trade union affiliate Lastik-İş made good on its 8 May strike notice by calling 4,000 tyre manufacturing workers out at four factories, operated by three multinational tyre companies. The strikes began late on Saturday, 31 May.

Negotiations continued until the early morning hours of that day, with the employers' association offering last-minute wage and social payment proposals to avert strikes. Those offers were presented to rank-and-file members of Lastik-İş, but were rejected by an accumulative 80% vote.

The strikes then began at factories of Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci and Pirelli, and two plants operated and majority- owned by US-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The four tyre plants are in the Turkish cities of Izmit and Adapazari. The union and management association has been negotiating since September 2007 on a new labour agreement.

"The decision to strike was taken by workers and I believe we shall overcome the employers' intransigence," said Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan. "The salary offer made by employers is far from meeting the work performed by tyre workers. Our decisiveness for gaining our demands is resolute."

The union is seeking a 12% wage increase for the first six-month period of a two-year labour agreement, and the Turkish rate of inflation for each six-month period thereafter. The tyre companies are resisting inflation-rate payments for the three six-month periods. The two sides differ also on various social payments customary in Turkish work schemes.

All agenda items within the 59-article labour contract, save for the wage and social payment items, have been agreed upon by the two sides.

Goodyear operates an auto, light truck, bus, and heavy equipment tyre plant in Adapazari, employing 800 rubber workers, and a truck, bus, and agriculture tyre plant in Izmit, where 500 workers are employed. Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci, jointly owned by Japanese-based Bridgestone and Sabanci Group of Turkey, manufactures auto, truck, and heavy equipment tyres in Izmit, employing 1,500, while Italian-based Pirelli has another auto and truck tyre plant in Izmit, in which 1,200 workers are employed.

U.S. Goodyear mulls Russia tyre plant

2008-05-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

Reuters, May 19, 2008

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to
build a factory in Russia costing between $200 million and $250 million,
the Kommersant business daily reported on Monday.

The plant will be built in the Yavroslav region, a five hour drive north
of Moscow, and will produce around 5 million tyres a year, Russian state
officials told Kommersant without giving a timeframe.

The newspaper said the project might conflict with plans of Russian
petrochemical group Sibur, which controls an existing tyre plant in the
region.

Sibur, controlled by Gazprom's (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research)
banking arm Gazprombank, might seek to create a joint venture with the
U.S. company on the basis of the existing plant, the newspaper said.

Sibur had no immediate comment.

Goodyear has been looking to invest outside its core markets in North
America and Europe because a slowing economy has dented demand.

Tire workers set to strike on May 31

2008-05-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

Today's Zaman, May 19, 2008

The Turkish Petroleum, Chemicals and Tire Workers Union (Lastik-İş), which operates within the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DİSK), has decided to go strike from May 31.

Lastik-İş President Abdullah Karacan told the Anatolia news agency yesterday that collective bargaining on behalf of approximately 4,000 workers at four tire production facilities belonging to Brisa, Pirelli and Goodyear had ended in dispute and that strike notices had been displayed at the factories on May 8.

The employers offered new contracts on Dec. 28, 2007, and collective bargaining between the union and employers began in the first week of January.

Goodyear rolls out hiring opportunities

2008-05-16T08:42:00.001-05:00

Topeka Capital-Journal, May 15, 2008

Amid a slow economy, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. put out the word it is hiring.

In recent days, the company's Topeka manufacturing facility advertised for applicants over the radio, in print ads, direct mailings and at a job fair.

Goodyear human resources specialist Heather McMurphey helps Jeffery Garrett, of Burlington, determine where he will need to go for the next part of the application process after he passed the first online screening during Wednesday's job fair.

Select International staffing manager Kay Krueger helps Darel Jackson with his online application for employment during Topeka Goodyear's job fair Wednesday.

The Topeka plant has three major production areas — mixing, truck radial tire and off-the-road. OTR recently added a fourth shift. The other two already had been running four shifts.

But as hundreds of job seekers came to Wednesday's job fair at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, the tire maker wasn't saying how many people it would add to the payroll.

About the only thing definite Goodyear would say is it added a fourth shift for its off-the-road department in the first quarter of the year. The fourth shift isn't fully staffed yet, said Lisa Spangler-Ignoto, spokeswoman for Goodyear. Demand for OTR tires is strong, especially in the mining sector.

Another reason for vacancies is a significant number of employees are retiring this year. In fact, at least 23 people retired in March alone.

"We have been and continue to recruit to fill current vacancies, as well as future vacancies, caused by anticipated retirements and other typical attrition," said Spangler-Ignoto. "In addition to the hourly production and maintenance positions, we also have ongoing recruiting efforts for salary positions, such as engineers, production supervisors and other professional staff."

Spangler-Ignoto declined to be specific about the number of employees Goodyear was hiring this spring. She said Goodyear needs a large applicant pool, which the company pulls from when there are openings. The job fair will help increase the number in the pool.

At the end of April, Goodyear had 1,600 employees in Topeka, with about 1,400 in production and maintenance and about 200 in the offices.

Spangler-Ignoto declined to say whether the new hires would result in a net increase in Goodyear's Topeka employment base.

Calls to the United Steelworkers, which represents production workers at Goodyear, weren't returned Wednesday.

Darel Jackson, owner of Village Lawn & Landscape in Oskaloosa, said he was applying for a job at Goodyear because the economy has gotten tough for independent business owners like himself. He said he has heard a lot of good things about Goodyear.

"This company provides the growth I'm looking for," Jackson said. "It's big enough."

Jackson said high fuel prices have made it difficult to make a profit in the landscaping business.

"Our costs have gone up tremendously," he said. "We're spending $300 to $400 per day on fuel for mowers and trucks."

Mildred Jo Arreola said she previously lived in California but moved to Topeka to help an uncle who was ill. She decided to stay.

"This opportunity came up," she said. "I'll apply. I'm willing to work. I've heard the benefits are good and there are a variety of shifts to work."

Goodyear hired Select International, of Pittsburgh, to advertise and recruit potential candidates.

Kenneth Klinvex, of Select International, said the firm uses an extensive process to screen people for jobs. It starts with an online application. If they pass that, they take a three-hour assessment to see if they are qualified to work in a manufacturing setting. The assessment measures mechanical aptitude, attention to detail and ability to work in teams.

The hiring process also includes an interview and a production exercise to see if the applicant really wants to work in a manufacturing setting, where it is hot and loud with all the machinery and equipment operating almost constantly. Applicants must pass a drug test.

The starting wage is $13.08 per hour. After three years, employees are qualified to bid for jobs that pay $20 to $24 per hour.

Klinvex said many applicants are students who dropped out of college and would prefer a job requiring mechanical skills.

Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio, is an international company with 60 percent of its sales coming from overseas.

So far this year, Goodyear profits have improved. The company said it earned $147 million, or 60 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 31, compared with a loss of $174 million, or 96 cents per share, in the same period in 2007. First-quarter sales rose to $4.94 billion from $4.5 billion a year ago.

Shares of Goodyear (NYSE: GT) were up 53 cents to close at $28.53 on Wednesday. The stock has climbed considerably since it was around $17 per share during the union strike in fall 2006.

GOODYEAR AMIENS TO CUT 402 JOBS AT FRENCH PLANT

2008-05-01T05:57:00.000-05:00

Les Echos, April 30, 2008

Yesterday, the management of tyre manufacturer Goodyear-Dunlop confirmed that it plans to reduce production in France. This reduction will result in the loss of 402 jobs at its plant in Amiens Nord, in the north of the country. The plan follows the refusal of unions to sign an accord on the reorganisation of duties.

In a communique, Goodyear-Dunlop management has indicated that the plan to reduce production, which will see the production of saloon vehicle tyres reduced by 38 per cent this year, will result in the loss of 402 permanent jobs from September onwards. The plant has a workforce of around 1,400.

Goodyear wants $200 million expansion at TC Debica plant in Poland

2008-02-26T16:20:00.003-05:00

Modern Tire Dealer, February 26, 2008

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is asking Polish tire company TC Debica -- in which it is the majority shareholder -- to nearly triple its commercial tire production for Goodyear, from 1,700 to 5,000 tires per day, to meet the increasing demand for technically advanced, high-quality commercial truck tires in Europe.

Goodyear has had a majority ownership interest in TC Debica, Poland's largest tiremaker, since 1995.

TC Debica's management board will decide whether to make the necessary investment to expand production there. Goodyear estimates that the expansion would require an investment of more than $200 million. The investment, which would likely involve assistance from Polish national and regional authorities, would create 350 to 400 new jobs at TC Debica.

The expansion, if approved, would be made adjacent to the existing factory in Debica, located in southern Poland. TC Debica currently employs 2,500 at the plant.

"This additional capacity would make TC Debica one of our largest suppliers of tires in the world," says Michel Rzonzef, president of Goodyear's Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa countries. "Goodyear, of course, will share the necessary technology and expertise to assure that TC Debica is producing the highest-quality and most advanced commercial truck tires possible."

The majority of the tires currently produced at the plant are sold to Goodyear or Goodyear affiliates, and are sold under the Goodyear, Debica, Dunlop, Fulda and Sava brands.

Previously, TC Debica and Goodyear announced in April 2007 a more limited proposal to increase truck tire production at Debica with an $8.5 million investment. That project is continuing and will be in addition to the expansion plans announced today.

In addition, Goodyear currently produces truck tires at European plants in Luxembourg, Germany and Turkey.

Goodyear cuts 500 French jobs over costs

2008-01-24T22:44:00.001-05:00

Businessweek, January 24, 2008

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Thursday an uncompetitive cost structure will force its European Union business unit to cut 500 jobs and reduce tire production at two factories in Amiens, France.

The company said the move follows an October rejection by employees of Goodyear plans to modernize and renovate the plants. Goodyear employs about 3,800 people in France, of which 2,700 are in the Amiens plants.

"We have communicated extensively with the trade unions, explaining the need for major changes. These changes would increase our competitiveness. Unfortunately, they have rejected the plan to improve competitiveness. Therefore, we have no choice but to reduce our costs as the plants are currently uncompetitive," said Serge Lussier, Goodyear's Europe, Middle East and Africa vice president of manufacturing.

Goodyear said some tire production will be outsourced to lower-cost factories in Europe and elsewhere. Some products will be eliminated.

Lussier said the plan presented in October required investment of about $75 million across the two plants in large part to facilitate the supply of high performance tires. The new required work pattern would have involved four rotating crews working eight-hour shifts, including weekends, for 350 days a year.

OSHA cites Goodyear plant for five safety violations

2008-01-15T07:22:00.001-05:00

ReliablePlant news wires, January 14, 2008

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed $52,000 in penalties against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for five safety violations discovered during an inspection of the company's manufacturing facility in Social Circle, Ga.

Inspectors cited the plant for two repeat violations and proposed $42,500 in penalties after they determined that management had failed to perform and certify periodic inspections of its energy control procedures and employees were using a production machine that lacked the proper safety guards. The company had been cited for similar failures after an inspection in 2006.

"OSHA expects management to take a proactive approach to employees' safety," said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of the agency's Atlanta-East Area Office. "Dangerous situations can be avoided if management conducts periodic inspections of their equipment and facilities as required by federal law."

OSHA also cited the plant for two serious safety violations with proposed penalties of $8,500 for using defective equipment cords that exposed employees to electrical hazards. An "other-than-serious" violation was proposed with a $1,000 penalty for failing to correctly maintain OSHA logs. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm but would have an immediate relationship to the safety and health of employees.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to contest them and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Goodyear Rolls Out Last Tire

2007-12-30T15:46:00.000-05:00

TylerPaper.com, December 29, 2007

On Friday, most of the Tyler Goodyear workers said goodbye to their employer.

A week ago, the company ceased tire production at the Tyler plant on Texas Highway 31 West, a promise Goodyear finalized when it issued the Worker Adjustment Relocation Notice Act in November - a notification given when a company plans to lay off 30 percent or more of its work force.

About 550 people were scheduled for layoff on Tuesday, New Year's Day.

But many had already left the plant for the final time and were using their remaining vacation time because Monday and Tuesday will be holidays. So the workers who had not already left made their final drive out the gate Friday.

Workers from the last shift, the third shift, would leave at 7 a.m. Saturday.

At United Steelworkers Local 746L headquarters, across Texas 31 from the plant, the mood was somber. Employees were calling or making visits to check on benefits or transfer opportunities to other Goodyear plants.

But in the end, Friday was a day when some employees said goodbye to each other, knowing they might not see each other again.

"It's very much like, in anyone's work, when someone retires, the emotion and the sense of loss," said James A. "Bud" Allred, Local 746L treasurer and an employee who will retain his job. "Today, it's like everyone's retiring at once on all the shifts."

Some of the employees have close relationships with each other and depend on each other, Allred said. Much of that would be changed after Friday.

Last year, during negotiations for a new master contract, the USW was only able to receive a company commitment that it would keep the plant open through 2007. Shortly thereafter, Goodyear announced tire production at the plant would cease after this year.

Although most of the employees to be laid off will have left by the end of the third shift Saturday morning, some will be laid off later, after they finish training other workers how to operate equipment in a scaled-down plant operation. Goodyear will retain a mixing operation in Tyler, and rubber will be mixed there for use by other plants.

Another group will move some equipment, clean up and ship tires from the warehouse.

When the few workers who are staying for training and transitioning are finished with their duties, they will be laid off, leaving the plant with about 135 employees.

Union Vice President Harold Sweat, who will assume the president's post on Tuesday, likened the experience to a person coming home from the military and realizing he will not see his friends again, or at least for a long time.

"You have that sense of loss," Sweat said.

He quickly added, however, a bit of a positive note.

"But everybody feels like they're better off for the experience they've had during this time," Sweat said. "The training they've had will prepare them for jobs in the future, so I think everybody will be ready to move forward to whatever life has to give them."

Many Goodyear Workers Gone; Friday Shift Final Chapter

2007-12-28T09:03:00.000-05:00

TylerPaper.com, December 28, 2007

Although Tuesday is the official date for a large layoff at Tyler's Goodyear plant, many of the workers are already gone.
Jim Wansley, president of United Steelworkers Local 746L, indicated some workers had other things on their minds than showing up for a final day.
"There were only two workdays this week - today and tomorrow," Wansley said Thursday. "And some of them had some vacation days, and they're taking them. ... They actually built their last tires on Friday of last week."
Wansley, who is one of the approximately 550 people leaving the company Tuesday, said the workers will file out the gate at the end of their individual shifts.
A much smaller number of workers will be retained temporarily and will leave at later dates.
They will initially stay at the plant to train other people, and another group will participate in a transition of the area of the plant in which tires were made.
This second group will move some equipment, clean up and ship tires from the warehouse, Wansley said.
Goodyear will retain a mixing operation in Tyler, and rubber will be mixed there for use by other plants.
"We'll just have one end of the plant running and we'll just be mixing rubber," Wansley said. "Everything will just be on a much smaller scale, and without anything associated with tire production."
When the few workers who are staying past Tuesday for training and transitioning are finished with their duties, they will be laid off. Wansley said he did not know how long they would remain in the plant, but, when they leave, the plant will employ about 135 people.
"There will be several weeks before the tires that are in that plant now will be shipped out," he said. "(The warehouse) holds a quarter of a million tires."
Last year, during negotiations for a new master contract, the USW was only able to receive a company commitment that it would keep the plant open through 2007. Shortly thereafter, Goodyear announced tire production at the plant would cease after this year.
A corporate spokesman previously said the decision to cease tire production was the result of costs it would require to modify the plant to produce tires that bring greater revenue.
The Tyler plant received new machinery in recent years to make the more profitable tires, and it had modified some of its existing machinery to do the job, but the company stuck to its plan.
A work force reduction earlier this year left the plant at between 650 and 750 hourly employees.
The workers took buyout offers and early retirement.
Wansley said the local economy will feel the loss of jobs at Goodyear.
A study by Impact DataSource in 2005 showed the Goodyear plant's economic impact totaled $161 million per year statewide.
At 1,075 jobs at the time of the study, salaries totaled $70 million, and economic output reached $388 million.
But the jobs at Goodyear helped create other jobs in the sectors of the economy that supplied the plant. Indirect and induced economic output was $560 million, and salaries $91 million.
Tom Mullins, Tyler Economic Development Council president and chief executive officer, previously said the ripple effect of the layoffs to other jobs will be significant.

Health-care trust for retirees given first judicial approval

2007-12-27T12:12:00.000-05:00

Akron Beacon Journal, December 19, 2007

Goodyear and the United Steelworkers have cleared a major hurdle toward the creation of an independent health-care trust for tens of thousands of union retirees.

The tire maker has received preliminary federal court approval for the settlement with the Steelworkers, its largest union, with about 12,200 active workers.

U.S. District Judge John R. Adams in Akron gave preliminary approval to the settlement Friday. The company and union agreed to the settlement in late October, subject to court approval.

Goodyear plans to make a one-time payment of $1 billion into the fund that is called a ''VEBA,'' or Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association. Steelworkers will pay part of their cost-of-living increases and profit sharing into the fund.

Providing it gets final judicial approval, the fund, not Goodyear, will be responsible for paying future health-care benefits for union retirees.

If everything moves along as anticipated, the VEBA process is expected to be completed in the first half of 2008, Goodyear spokesman Keith Price said Tuesday.

The move is expected to save Goodyear about $110 million a year. Goodyear and the USW agreed to create the health-care trust in settling an 85-day strike that ended in late December 2006.

The class members total about 30,000 retirees, their spouses, surviving spouses and other dependents, according to the judge's order.

The VEBA will be run by a committee made up of three union representatives, two retiree representatives and four public members with expertise in benefits. Goodyear will have no one on the committee.

Union retirees have until March 4 to file written objections to the proposed settlement.

Adams set 1 p.m. April 11 for another hearing on whether to issue final approval.

Steel Workers Help Let's Help

2007-11-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

WIBW.com, November 20, 2007

Goodyear workers are "paying forward" some help they received a year ago.

The United Steel Workers Local 307 presented Topeka's Let's Help organization a $10,000 check Tuesday. That's the same amount car dealer Ed Bozarth gave the union to help striking workers last holiday season.

The union's leadership decided the gift should keep giving. Local 307 Vice President Glen Griffith said Let's Help and the United Way are very close to the Steel Workers. He says they are good organizations that helped their members when they were in tough times and continue to help people all year.

"It just feels good to give," Griffith said.

Let's Help Executive Director Ken Gudenkauf says the holidays are always special for the organization. He says they usually adopt 550 families through the Christmas Bureau, and the union's donation would go a long way to providing those families a nice food package and other items, just as mittens and hats.

It's not the first gift the union's given Let's Help. The International Steel Workers sent a $13,000 check following the strike to thank the community for its support of the workers. The international board decided to donate to an organization in each of the communities where workers went on strike.

Let's Help faced tough financial times earlier this summer. Gudenkauf said in July, he thought he wouldn't be able to make payroll through August. Now, he says he believes he could make it through April. He says the organization is still not entirely stable, but it is making progress.

To help with the financial troubles, Let's Help put its three buildings on the market. Gudenkauf says they are negotiating an offer on the building at 234 S. Kansas and there is interest in the warehouse. He says there are no offers on the administrative building, where lunch is served, but he says it's possible Let's Help may decide to consolidate its services in that building. In addition, he credits their bank and the United Way for their willingness to work with the organization.

Gudenkauf says Let's Help serves an average of 300 meals a day. He says that often grows to 500 meals a day around the end of the month.

French Goodyear Workers Reject Reorganisation that would Increase Work Hours

2007-11-20T15:17:00.000-05:00

ICEM InBrief, November 19, 2007

French rubber workers at the Goodyear-Dunlop twin plants in Amiens rejected a company restructuring plan that would increase work hours. With a 65% vote, the two factories, totalling 2,700 workers, said 'no' to the American company's plan to reduce weekly rotation teams from five to four, and cut weekend pay for each worker by 10%.

All the primary French unions at the plants, including ICEM affiliate CFDT, recommended that workers reject the plan, and following the vote, they urged a quick return to dialogue to re-shape the restructuring plan.

Goodyear's plan would also eliminate 450 jobs over three years through attrition. The company is seeking reorganisation of the plants in northern France in order to implement a €52 million modernisation plan to produce high-performance tyres. But the reorganisation would increase work time by rotation of shifts every eight days. Weekend work would also have increased from 28 to 35 hours, had workers accepted the plan.

On Schedule

2007-11-16T15:06:00.000-05:00

Gadsden Times, November 15, 2007
Two months after work started on the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. expansion, the project is on schedule for production to begin in the new area of the Gadsden tire plant next year, plant manager Jim Davis said.

The company broke ground Sept. 14 for the 204,000-square-foot expansion to the plant and work began the next week.

"We had a few days of rain during the early days of construction, but we've managed to catch up with our rigorous schedule," Davis said. "The construction crews and our engineering team are diligently working to ensure that we meet our deadline."

Davis said in a press release Wednesday construction of the building addition is being done in phases, with the first phase to be completed by Dec. 31.

Preparatory work for state-of-the-art equipment in component manufacturing has begun in the existing plant.

Additional tire-building equipment is scheduled for installation in the building addition in mid-February.
Company officials said at the groundbreaking ceremony that production in the expansion would begin in the second quarter of 2008.

The entire modernization project is expected to be completed by 2010, officials said.
Goodyear has filed for tax abatements with the city of Gadsden for an investment totaling $125 million, including $118 million in equipment and $7 million in building construction.

At the groundbreaking, Chris Werner, Goodyear's vice president for North American Tire Unit, said the modernization of the plant will enable Goodyear to make more competitive products and "higher-value-added" products.
The plant will continue to produce light truck radial tires, passenger tires and mini-spares.

"It's the only way we can maintain a competitive work force, competitive jobs in North America," Werner said.

Dennis Battles, president of United Steelworkers Local 12, said in an interview Wednesday that workers at the plant are excited about the expansion, especially considering the announcement by Goodyear last month that the company is stopping tire production at the Tyler, Texas, facility shortly after the first of the year.

That will mean a loss of about 600 of the 750 jobs at the plant there.

The company may be considering keeping the Tyler plant open as a mixing operation.

Battles said the plant here was in that situation in February 1999 after Goodyear announced it was ceasing tire production but would keep a mixing operation.

The company later changed direction and in October 1999 announced the plant would stay open.

"We've been in that same position," Battles said, referring to Tyler.

While company officials have not said if there will be more of an investment than $125 million, Battles said the union is "always politicking" Goodyear officials to
add investment and production lines here.

"We're always asking," Battles said.

He said the new tire machines will allow the plant to produce larger-size tires, which would allow additional lines to be added.

The state helped secured the investment here by pledging an incentive package of $30 million - $20 million from a bond issue and $10 million in training funds.

Goodyear also has announced plans for a $200 million expansion at the Fayetteville, N.C., plant.

As part of the agreement for a new three-year contract reached with the United Steelworkers in December after a three-month strike, the company has agreed to invest $550 million in Goodyear plants in North America in the next three years.

Tyler Prepares Relief Efforts For Goodyear Employees

2007-11-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

TylerPaper.com, November 14, 2007

Relief efforts for laid-off Goodyear workers will include benefits processing, job fairs and perhaps monies for work force training, leaders of those efforts told the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce board on Tuesday.

The current master contract between Goodyear Corp. and the United Steelworkers, ratified in late December 2006, indicated the Tyler plant would stay open at least through 2007.

On Oct. 30, Goodyear announced that tire production at the plant would cease in January and a layoff would eliminate most of the hourly positions in the plant. That news was bad, but at least workers and their families have had time to prepare for it, state Sen. Kevin Eltife told the board.

"The fact that we've got an extra year, it's not as dire a (situation) over there for the employees," said Eltife, R-Tyler.

Eltife was chairman of a task force that assembled a year ago to bring together local social service organizations into a one-stop shop for workers who either needed help getting through last year's union strike or who would need help if they were to be laid off.

Fred Peters, coordinator of Eltife's task force, said a transition committee composed of union representatives, plant representatives and ex-officio members has been assembled to oversee the workers who will lose their jobs.

Layoff notifications will go out Jan. 1-14, Peters said.

Jim Wansley, president of United Steelworkers Local 746L, previously said the company indicated that more than 600 of its approximately 750 hourly employees would be laid off.

The workers transition committee will establish another one-stop shop for laid-off employees. Services could include job fairs and the processing of unemployment benefits.

Peters said workers might be eligible to receive Trade Adjustment Assistance or Trade Readjustment Allowances.

TAA is a federally funded employment program that helps people who have had their jobs impacted by foreign imports. According to program information, workers could be eligible to receive re-employment services, allowances for job searches or relocation, a health coverage tax credit or training.

TRA is income support for people who have used all their unemployment compensation and whose jobs were affected by foreign imports.

Tom Mullins, Tyler Economic Development Council and chamber president and chief executive officer, said the TEDC will apply to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration, for a $100,000 grant to be used for developing a strategic plan for dealing with the loss of production and manufacturing jobs.

The TEDC partnered with the Texas Engineering Extension Service, to which it will provide data. The extension service will use the data in writing the grant application.

Mullins also said the East Texas Workforce Board is applying for a $200,000 U.S. Department of Labor regional innovation grant for development of a strategy for an economic development initiative and work force development, which includes training and skills development.

Goodyear plans to retain some employees so it can continue to operate a mixing center at the plant.

Mullins said the facility would become a source for a rubber compound to be used by other plants that need that additional rubber for their tire production. He said the center would use about 40 percent of the total plant space.

"This is mostly bad news, but they're going to be here for two more years," Mullins said, referring to the remaining two years left on the master contract.

Although the chance may be slim, Mullins said Goodyear could restart tire production at the Tyler plant if market conditions demand it.

Goodyear told to pay woman $4 million

2007-11-14T07:22:00.000-05:00

SeattlePI.com, November 9, 2007

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. must pay a Seattle woman nearly $4.4 million after a King County jury found that the company demoted her after she complained of discrimination because of her sexual orientation.

The Superior Court jury reached the decision this week in a lawsuit filed by Melissa Sheffield, 47, who had been working for a Seattle Goodyear store for nearly 10 years before the problems arose in 2003.

Jurors found that a manager and the company retaliated against her by demoting her in May 2003, and that the company didn't reasonably accommodate her so that she could work in spite of an on-the-job injury.

She was demoted after reporting a co-worker who had talked about disliking gay people and who made an inappropriate comment when she confronted him about bringing a gun to work, according to her Seattle attorney, Daniel Johnson.

Johnson said he was pleased with the jurors' decision. "I think they were really upset by what they saw as an employee who was seeking protection in the workplace," he said.

Goodyear argued that Sheffield was demoted for her own misconduct. An attorney for the company could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

Jurors deliberated less than two days.

Goodyear employees say they want answers

2007-11-02T07:23:00.000-05:00

KETKNBC.com, November 1, 2007
TYLER-- Goodyear employees are now wondering what will happen next as tire production is scheduled to stop by the end of this year.
Come December Goodyear is laying off nearly 600 employees and right now those employees say they want more answers.
For many of the Goodyear employees, a year of uncertainty is all they have seen.
More than a year after going on strike these men and women say they still don't know exactly whats going to happen in the next two months.
Goodyear employee Phillip Gordon said, "In the next couple weeks there going to be a lot of questions that been asked thats going to have to be answered."
The Union President Jim Wansley says this is what employees do know:
In December the plant will no longer make tires.
This means an estimated 600 people will be out of a job.
But, Goodyear will continue to make rubber which means about 150 employees stay at the plant.
Union President Jim Wansley said, "Now we have some idea of what we're going to have, we're just going to have to figure out how we're going to move forward."
Moving forward, many say will be the hardest part.
Making tires for Goodyear is all many of the employees know.... it's all they've been doing for years.
Goodyear Employee Charlie Waters said, "I left a job I had for 13 years to come here, thinking it would be the last job I ever had."
For Waters and many others, finding a new career is next.
Waters said, "The East Texas Free for all. Just like the old Oklahoma land rush. Everybody will be out there looking and knocking on doors."

Goodyear plans to end Texas tire production in January

2007-10-31T06:31:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press, October 31, 2007

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. informed union officials at its Tyler plant on Tuesday that it will stop producing tires there in January.

Jim Wansley, president of United Steelworkers Local 746L, said the union received a worker adjustment relocation notice, which is required when the Akron, Ohio-based company plans a layoff that involves more than a third of its work force.

"Right now, the impact of what Goodyear has said they intend to do would be over 600 jobs," Wansley said in a story for Tuesday's online edition of the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Wansley said talks would begin Wednesday on the timeline for carrying out Goodyear's plans for the plant and how many jobs will actually exist there.

Tire production is expected to cease somewhere between Jan. 1 and Jan. 14.

Workers at the Tyler plant make wholesale private label tires. The plant's fate was a key issue in negotiations of a new contract. The deal worked out in late 2006 after a three-months strike allowed Goodyear to stick with plans to close the plant but provided a one-year transition period during which workers would have the opportunity to take advantage of retirement buyouts.

From ICEM magazine, Global Info

2007-10-15T06:40:00.000-05:00

For 3 years, 600 workers at a Goodyear tyre factory near Bangkok have struggled and fought for their rights. At present, they are in collective negotiations with factory managers, talks that have been blemished by subtle threats and intimidation by the senior manager.

Workers have one major thing going for them: they are more united now than ever. For the first time in years, the plant-level committee, behind the banner of ICEM-affiliated Petroleum & Chemical Workers Union (PCFT), speaks in unison. Workers no longer have part of this committee dominated by management.

In early September, this unity was on display. When the company fired two women, for using their own funds to make bags and shirts emblazoned with Goodyear’s logo for distribution to rural school children, the workers reacted: some 90% of the 600 showed up for work dressed in black.

Workers and the committee are unanimous about Anan Pol-ung. On 25 July 2007, they presented a formal letter to management demanding his reinstatement. The former president of PCFT’s union at Goodyear was sacked in 2006, his second firing. He first drew management’s wrath when – as shop-floor leader – he made a stand with 20 contract workers, all on fixed-term, yearly contracts The ICEM intervened in 2005 to win his job back.

The ICEM’s Goodyear Global Union Network is now demanding Anan’s reinstatement on this second dismissal.

A fateful event in 2007, something also serving to tighten the ranks, was a major fire occurring on 2 March that closed the factory, and halted production of auto, truck, tractor, and aircraft tyres. Workers were bitter when the senior manager offered to pay only 50% of their salaries.

All workers were recalled by July 2007. But the fire left safety problems in its wake. In one example, Goodyear seeks to remand a union committeeman in industrial court. The incident involves a small fire that happened after workers returned to their jobs. He is charged with a formal safety warning because he informed the plant’s safety chief that a fire alarm was not operating properly. That safety officer had left the company, and Goodyear failed to correct the problem.

Even before the big fire, managers eliminated a specialised fire team in order to save on overtime costs.

At a meeting in June, the union committee, together with the union representing 30 supervisors, agreed that they will not be bullied by any manager. They agreed also that they deserve fair and commensurate pay in this set of 3-year talks. And they also re-committed to make the best, and most reputable, aircraft and land tyres in the Asia-Pacific region.

Contract Settled, But Problems Persist at Goodyear’s Slovenia Tyre Plant

2007-09-24T12:43:00.000-05:00

ICEM InBrief, September 24, 2007

ICEM affiliate Chemical, Non-Metallic, and Rubber Workers’ Union (KNG) of Slovenia and the Sava management of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. at Kranj came to wage terms at a tyre factory this summer, but the new contract still needs attention. At issue is how management is – or rather, is not – implementing language recently inserted into the collective agreement.

In addition to winning Chemical, Non-Metallic, and Rubber Workers' Union (KNG) of Slovenia and the Sava management of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. at Kranj came to wage terms at a tyre factory this summer, but the new contract still needs attention. At issue is how management is – or rather, is not – implementing language recently inserted into the collective agreement. a €90-per-month increase, the 900 workers also agreed to a plan to reduce sick leave in exchange for a sizeable bonus scheme. Management has failed to adequately implement this plan, as well neglecting other aspects of the new agreement. Shop-floor leaders at the Kranj tyre and engineered products plants, Goodyear's prize operations in Eastern and Central Europe, together with and KNG's Andrej Zorko, are eager for managers to put the new collective agreement into effect.

Goodyear produces auto, truck, and bus tyres in Kranj. It makes Sava tyre brands there, as well as its trademarked Avant A3 steer-axle tyre and the Orjak 03 drive-axle tyre. In 2006, Goodyear exceeded all business targets at the Kranj plants. It also made its one millionth tyre there. Goodyear is one of Slovenia's largest exporters.

The company entered into a majority-stake joint venture with the Sava Group in 1998, which gave it 60% of the tyre-making plant and 75% of the engineered products operation. Goodyear paid US$120 million for those stakes. Previously, Continental AG of Germany held a 28% share of Sava.In 2002, Goodyear bought another 20% stake in of operations for US$38.5 million, and, two years later, the company bought up the remaining shares to give it full ownership.

Besides being affiliated to the ICEM, KNG Trade Union is a proud affiliate of the Association of Free Trade Unions (ZSSS) of Slovenia, which is currently leading an effort in the country to offset inflation with increases in salaries for all workers.

FRENCH GOODYEAR-DUNLOP SITES STILL UNDER THREAT

2007-09-18T19:16:00.000-05:00

Les Echos, September 17, 2007

Summary proceedings were launched last week for hindrance to the freedom to work with regard to US tyre manufacturer Goodyear-Dunlop's plans to restructure its French plants in Amiens. French trade unions CGT and SUD called for the two sites to be blocked last Friday in opposition to the referendum on the restructuring plans. The ballot was cancelled as a result, and CGT called for negotiations to resume, despite a picket line still being in place.

Three trade unions representatives have been called before court this morning. Although management at Goodyear-Dunlop is still emphasising that the sites are not threatened with closure, it issued a statement in which it described the blockade as an inadmissible hindrance to staff's freedom of expression, particularly given the uncertainty of the sites' future. It would be a devastating blow to the plants if the company were to cancel the planned 52m-euro investment into upgrading them, and one which local staff intend to avoid at all costs.

GOODYEAR-DUNLOP TO CONSULT FRENCH STAFF OVER PLANS FOR AMIENS SITES

2007-09-10T07:09:00.000-05:00

Les Echos, September 7, 2007

Management at US tyre manufacturer Goodyear-Dunlop is due to consult staff at the company's French sites in Amiens on September 14 and September 15 with regard to plans to restructure the two sites. Following the strikes over the summer, negotiations between management and trade unions appear to be in a state of deadlock. French trade union CGT has refused the reappraisal of the agreement made in 2000 and all restructuring of the organisation of production teams. However, management believes that only through cutting jobs by not replacing employees taking retirement, increasing the plant's annual activity from 329 days to 350 days, and extensively upgrading installations can production be quickly reoriented towards high-performance tyres. Goodyear-Dunlop has said that the Amiens plants must be adapted to the needs of the market.

Mickael Wamen, secretary of CGT at Dunlop, has said that with the same amount of investment, the Amiens plants could be as profitable as the sites in Germany. To avoid further aggravating the issue and thereby affecting the entire investment programme, CGT has called for staff to vote against the decision at the September meetings' referendum. No further strike warnings have been issued.

Embattled tyre and rubber industry concludes historic agreement

2007-08-20T06:14:00.000-05:00

NUMSA, August 20, 2007

Embattled tyre and rubber industry has concluded a momentous agreement ending a protracted four-week old strike by 6 000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).

Today (Monday) and the following day thousands of striking workers in six plants in Port Elizabeth, Durban, Ladysmith and Brits are expected to report for work as the final settlement will be concluded after the weekend report- back meetings.

The three- year agreement to be ratified after report back meetings have been held include an across- the- board increase of 8% and 7, 5% for the second and third year increases.

Other main areas of in-principle agreement also related to skills-based development grading, five months maternity leave, annual leave of 15 working days and 10,5% increase in employers’ contribution on provident fund.

Port Elizabeth-based Goodyear tyre manufacturer has also agreed to absorb about 100 contract workers into its permanent staff complement, out of the total of 250 employees hired under labour brokerages. And a consolidated process to phase out the remaining 150 labour brokers would be finalized.

At least 6 000 Numsa members in six major tyre manufacturing plants including Goodyear, Continental, Firestone in Port Elizabeth and Dunlop factory in Durban, Ladysmith and Bridgestone in Brits, North West downed tools in July to demand 10% wage increases.

Numsa demanded among others the scrapping of the labour brokers in the industry.

Thailand's Goodyear Workers Warrant Support

2007-08-02T15:43:00.000-05:00

Message from ICEM (www.icem.org)

In a week’s time in Thailand, on August 10, 600 Goodyear workers will present their demands to management at a tire plant near Bangkok. Those demands should not provoke local managers much, since they are modest and include issues on health care benefits, continuation of wage adjustments, and maybe narrowing the 4-tier wage scheme that exists inside the factory.

If they have any advantage in this set of 3-year talks, it is that they are more united now than they have been for the past several years. The local union committee speaks in unison, and even better, leaders of a 31-member supervisors unit at the factory are actively engaged with leaders of the local union.

What have united them are the words of Richard Fleming and the atmosphere he has created since he became managing director of this plant late in 2006. Fleming, from New Zealand, has arrogantly let it be known what he expects, in terms of social benefits that workers will concede to him. He has done it through fear of a lockout, he has done it by threats to move tyre production from Thailand to Viet Nam. And he has done it by short-changing workers following a major fire in the plant earlier this year that closed it.

The local union at Goodyear in Thailand is affiliated to the Petroleum & Chemical Workers Union (PCFT), an important affiliate to the ICEM, the global federation of trade unions for the energy, chemicals, mining, rubber and other sectors. Through the PCFT, the ICEM has been deeply involved with the plant-level union at the Goodyear tire factory in Wattana, Thailand.

The ICEM is requesting that readers of this blog send a message of support and solidarity to the 600 workers and 31 supervisions at Goodyar’s Bangkok tire factory. The local union guarantees that all messages will get forwarded to all workers. Please send messages to: icemthai@yahoo.com.

Goodyear (Thailand) Public Company Ltd. makes auto, truck, tractor, and commercial aircraft tires. In recent years, the plant has seen a reduction in force. Fleming has added to the pain by now denigrating the factory, saying that it accounts for less than 1% of Goodyear’s totals. He has said this in the context of the plant closing threat.

The 600 workers and 31 supervisors take great pride in their production and in the proportion of profit their labours create for Goodyear. The workers also take great pride in the fact that they are one of the few rubber plants in Asia-Pacific that makes aircraft tires. They make these tires with care and precision, and they are stung when Fleming discounts the factory and eyes benefits that he wants slashed.

To bear out the new resolve of the local union committee, they met with management on July 24, 2007, and one agenda item was to pass a formal letter to the company demanding the reinstatement of Anan Pol-ung to his rightful job inside the factory. Anan, the former president of the plant-level union, was fired last year. He first drew negative attention from Goodyear’s Thai management nearly three years ago when he made a stand with 20 contract workers in the warehouse and rubber stock department. These workers had been working for up to 10 years on a temporary, or year-to-year basis. The wanted to join the PCFT, and Anan was helping them do just that.

Following the exchange of demands on August 10, the first set of negotiations in this round of bargaining will occur on or around August 22.

Goodyear workers in Thailand need messages of support from trade unions, and from other Goodyear workers and managers from around the world. Please send your own message to icemthai@yahoo.com and it will be translated into Thai, and distributed to workers.

Steelworkers ratify Goodyear Engineered Products contract

2007-07-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

Modern Tire Dealer, July 30, 2007

The Carlyle Group can proceed with its acquisition of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s Engineered Products division thanks to the United Steelworkers' ratification of a new labor contract with the company.

Four Engineered Products plants will become part of a new entity, EPD Inc., when the sale is finalized.

"Outstanding issues between USW International and Carlyle were resolved over the weekend," say union officials. "The issues related directly to establishing a secure trust fund for retiree health care completely separate from the one at Goodyear."

Carlyle was required to finalize a new labor deal with the Steelworkers before it could acquire the division. Carlyle intends to continue producing Goodyear brand hoses, belts and other products.

South Africa Goodyear, Tyre Strike Starts to Bite as Parties Stand Firm

2007-07-27T06:19:00.000-05:00

Africa News, July 26, 2007

THE strike in the tyre manufacturing industry is starting to bite, with production affected adversely but both employers and unions are sticking to their guns with no resolution in sight.

Almost 4000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) out of the 7800 workers in the tyre industry downed tools over wages on Friday, demanding a 10% increase.

This comes after several rounds of negotiations failed to resolve the dispute with employers represented in the New Tyre Manufacturing Industry Association offering a 7% increase . Association chairman Basil Smith said employers had put a 7,5% salary increase on the table, linked to production improvements.

"We are producing the minimum number of tyres and it is difficult to gauge how much the industry is losing a day as a result of the strike. We have given union representatives our offer to go and consider," Smith said.

Romano Daniels, group communication manager at Bridgestone, said "we are unable to produce one tyre in our Brits and Port Elizabeth plants".

Goodyear PR manager Lize Hayward would give details on production.

South Africa Goodyear, Tire Strike Continues

2007-07-25T12:27:00.000-05:00

Akron/Tire Review, July 25, 2007

The South African tire industry strike continued into its third day on July 24, with wage negotiations progressing slowly, according to the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA), which represents some 4,000 strikers at plants operated by Dunlop, Continental, Goodyear and Bridgestone.

Industry spokesperson Attie Higgs said progress had been made on several non-wage issues, but workers remain firm on their 10% wage increase demands. According to reports, Dunlop, Continental and Goodyear had made a 7.5% offer, while Bridgestone offered a 7% wage increase.

“We want to force employers to improve their offer because the industry has been reporting good profits over the past three years. We are hopeful of a significant wage increase,” a NUMSA spokesperson said.

Higgs refutes those claims, saying that there had been little growth and that, over the past three to four years, the industry marketshare had dropped as a result of imports.

Higgs said the short-term impact of the strike would be limited, but an extended strike would have severe implications.

Tire workers strike in South Africa

2007-07-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

Akron Beacon Journal, July 24, 2007

Continental AG, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Corp. suspended production at their South African tire plants as workers went on strike for higher wages, a labor union said.

Employees at six tire factories stopped work in support of a 10 percent pay raise. Employers have offered a 7 percent increase, more than the annual inflation rate of 6.4 percent.

A spokesman for the National Union of Metalworkers said more than 5,000 were off the job.

Goodyear, union still at odds

2007-07-19T06:25:00.000-05:00

Topeka Capital-Journal, July 19, 2007

Six months after Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers reached a national labor agreement, negotiations continue on a local supplemental contract that has implications for employees' work and vacation rules.

"Everybody in our membership thought this would be an easy deal, but it's proved harder," said Glenn Griffith, vice president of Local 307.

Griffith said the national deal, or "master agreement," sets the tone for such big-ticket items as wages and benefits, but it's up to local negotiators to work out the smaller points, like work rules and how overtime and vacation can be scheduled.

He said the union has been meeting with Goodyear since at least April.

Click here for rest of article.

Goodyear, other tire companies risk South Africa strike

2007-07-18T07:02:00.000-05:00

Akron Beacon Journal, July 18, 2007

Continental AG, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Corp. will face strikes at South African tire plants starting Friday after pay talks collapsed, a labor union said.

About 6,000 workers at six factories are demanding 10 percent raises, while employers are offering 7 percent, the Johannesburg-based National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. South Africa's inflation rate is 6.4 percent.

Ex-Goodyear unit, USW reach contract

2007-07-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Akron Beacon Journal, July 18, 2007

The United Steelworkers union has reached a tentative contract with the buyer of Goodyear's Engineered Products division.

In March, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced it planned to sell almost all of its Engineered Products business, which makes hoses and conveyor belts, to The Carlyle Group for $1.475 billion.

As part of the deal, Goodyear has agreed to let Carlyle use the Goodyear brand in connection with the Engineered Products business.

The division has about 6,500 employees worldwide in 32 countries, including about 500 at the Lincoln, Neb., production plant and more than 400 at a nonunion plant in Norfolk, Va.

News from the Slovenian KNG

2007-06-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

KNG has been at the negotiations for one week with the company’s local management on salaries. There are some progressions, but it is not final point. What they demand is to reach the average salary level of the industry and region. The current average salary paid by Goodyear is Euro 200 behind the general average.

News from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union

2007-06-29T08:19:00.000-05:00

Bargaining is in its final stages. The members appear to have successfully defended all of their established conditions and standards, having fought off an attempt by the company to undermine their popular rostering system. However, the cost of this may well be a very low pay rise - 5% over a 2 year agreement. Significantly, the members have managed, through a commonl law trust deed, to defend established rights to control and where necessary prevent contracting out of work done by the permanent work force. This issue is a prohibited matter for collective agreements in the Workchoices system.

Goodyear Chemical obtains labor pacts

2007-06-04T07:16:00.000-05:00

Rubber & Plastics News

Goodyear has new three-year contracts set at its chemical operations in Houston.

The pacts cover about 260 production workers and craftsmen represented by six different labor unions and are retroactive to Aug. 1, when the previous deals expired.

The International Union of Operating Engineers represents the largest group of workers in Houston, between 150 and 160.

Goodyear Chemical is part of the company's North America Tire business, with the Houston site producing emulsion SBR.

Goodyear posts $174 million loss

2007-05-15T08:35:00.000-05:00

Akron Beacon Journal staff report

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said it lost $174 million for the first quarter ending March 31 because of costs related to the 86-day United Steelworkers strike in late 2006.

Sales were up 1 percent to $4.5 billion, the Akron tire maker reported this morning.

The company said it has reduced the cost estimates on its North American Tire division to between $100 million and $120 million for 2007, down from previous estimates as high as $230 million. The company said it is recovering from the Steelworkers strike faster than it had anticipated.

Goodyear is raising its cost-savings goal from more than $1 billion by 2008 to as much as $2 billion by 2009.

Network Newsletter for Spring 2007

2007-04-24T16:08:00.000-05:00

The Goodyear Global Union Network has issued the Spring 2007 edition of its newsletter, Global Solidarity. It is available here in English, Spanish, French and German. Use the translation tools on this website to translate into your language.

Network Statement

2007-04-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

The Goodyear Global Union Network held a meeting in Akron, Ohio, USA on 19-20 March 2007. The Network issued a statement at the conclusion of the meeting. It is available here in English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese.

Goodyear to Sell Engineered Products Business to The Carlyle Group

2007-03-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

AKRON, Ohio, March 23, 2007 – The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced that it has agreed to sell substantially all of its Engineered Products business to EPD, Inc., an entity sponsored by Carlyle Partners IV, L.P., for $1.475 billion, subject to certain post-closing adjustments. Read about at http://www.goodyear.com/media/pr/23450fi.html