Automakers Show Interest in Goodyear-USW Contract

Detroit’s “Big Three” carmakers are casting an eye on the contract signed between Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers union at the end of last year as a potential model to emulate. Of particular interest is the trust fund the company set up to separate themselves from the responsibility of future retiree health costs.

The Big Three – General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler – have been accumulating vast amounts of debt and rising retiree health care costs is a significant factor in this journey into the red. General Motors report that their potential retiree health care bill amounts to approximately US$50 to $60 million, so it is therefore perhaps understandable that all three automakers are studying the Goodyear agreement to see if a similar deal can offer them potential savings.

While management at the three automakers all admit they’re looking at the Goodyear contract, none were prepared to comment whether they’ve raised the idea in preliminary talks with the UAW, and a UAW spokesman was equally silent on the matter