Firestone employees threaten strike

Wages, pension fund contributions and affordable health care coverage headed the list of issues brought to the bargaining table by union officials representating the 157 employees at Orange County’s Firestone Polymers synthetic rubber plant. PACE Local 4-836 union representatives and plant officials entered into contract negotiations, but not before employees agreed they would go on strike if a new contract were not forged by the March 7 deadline, the date the employee’s existing three-year contract expires. Dan MacDonald, a spokesperson with Firestone’s parent company, Nashville-based Bridgestone America, said he believed contract talks would be successful, but criticised union representatives for taking negotiations away from the bargaining table.