CTNA Starts Union Talks for Charlotte Plant

(Akron/Tire Review) Continental Tire North America Inc (CTNA) said it has begun negotiations with the United Steelworkers (USW) for a new labour agreement at its Charlotte, NC tyre manufacturing plant.

The current labour agreement, initiated on 20 September 1999, does not expire until 30 April 2006, according to CTNA, but the tyremaker wanted to begin negotiations now to “address high manufacturing costs,” the company said.

“CTNA has informed the union that the Charlotte plant has the highest manufacturing costs of any Continental tyre plant worldwide,” said Rick Ledsinger, CTNA’s vice president of human resources. “By working together with our employees and their union representatives, we hope that we can negotiate a new agreement that will reduce our manufacturing costs and assure the future success of the Charlotte plant.”

CTNA’s Charlotte plant produces approximately 25,000 passenger and light truck tires per day for OE and replacement markets. The Charlotte plant currently employs about 900 employees, represented by the USW, Local 850.