Goodyear, Steelworkers Begin Contract Talks

THOMAS J. SHEERAN

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. ...