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Goodyear, Steelworkers Begin Contract Talks

The Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers of America opened national contract talks Monday with the recession as a backdrop and memories of a three-month strike in 2006 still fresh.

The three-year contract covering about 10,300 Steelworkers at seven Goodyear plants in the U.S. expires July 18.

The Steelworkers said the union's goal was improved pay and benefits but acknowledged that job security would overshadow other issues in contract talks in Cincinnati covering workers in Akron; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; Topeka, Kan., and Union City, Tenn.

The company made it clear in a posting on its Web site that controlling costs is a key focus.

"Goodyear's goal for its North American Tire manufacturing operations is to be competitive within North America and with the rest of the world," the company said. The Akron-based company said it wants to focus on improved productivity and flexibility and rising health-care and pension costs.

Bob Keegan, Goodyear's chief executive, has said the company plans to cut 5,000 jobs globally this year, including 3,800 cuts made through March. Goodyear has about 71,000 employees worldwide, with 30,000 in the United States.

Goodyear froze its U.S. salaried pension plans on Dec. 31 and highlighted the issue on its contract-related Web site, stating that it "has experienced periods of declines in interest rates and pension asset values," which has left its pension plans "significantly underfunded."

Kevin Johnsen, a USW contract coordinator, said job security is a priority for the Pittsburgh-based union.

"We're interested in getting a fair and equitable contract. Certainly we'd like economic security, but we also want job security. We want to insure that all of our members continue to have jobs," he said by phone from Cincinnati.

John B. Russo, a labor studies professor at the Youngstown State University business school, said the recession and upheaval in the auto industry would be on the minds of contractor negotiators.

"It's going to be an issue in terms of the negotiations, there's no question about it. Any union that's negotiating in the current economic climate is facing that backdrop," he said.

Steelworkers struck Goodyear for three months in 2006 in a walkout that ended when the two agreed to create an independent health-care fund to pay for union retiree health benefits. Goodyear agreed to a one-time payment of $1 billion into the fund.

The agreement also led to the closing of a Goodyear tire plant in Tyler, Texas.

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On the Net:

Goodyear contract: http://www.goodyearnegotiations.com

Union contract: http://www.uswgkd.com