Bridgestone to Lay Off more than 150 in US

At least 10 salaried employees and 148 hourly workers at Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire’s LaVergne, Tennessee facility will be laid-off from 21 December. This round of festive season redundancies will shrink the workforce at the passenger car, light truck and truck and bus tyre factory by almost 10 per cent.

The company reports this measure is being taken due to the increasing impact of the global economic crisis that has resulted in a further weakening and decrease in demand in the North American tyre market – it is necessary to reduce manufacturing capacity in North America to tackle a growing tyre inventory, it says.

“In general, the tyre industry in the United States – like many other industries – is facing significant challenges in the face of the global economic slowdown,” said Steve Brooks, president of Manufacturing Operations for BFNT. “Even though we have taken a number of steps intended to align our consumer tyre production levels with industry demand, including reducing daily unit production, curbing or eliminating overtime and extending shutdown dates, unfortunately we find it necessary to take this additional step.”

In addition, while no final decision has been made, due to the weak and decreasing demand in the North American passenger and light truck tyre markets the company has advised representatives of the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW) that it may be necessary to cease most or all passenger and light truck tyre production at the LaVergne facility. Although it is not clear that this action, should it occur, rises to the level of a “partial plant closure” within the context of the company’s collective bargaining agreement with the USW, the company provided union leadership a letter that can serve as a six-months notice of the potential cessation of passenger and light truck tyre manufacturing at the plant. The announcement of the company’s intention to seriously consider elimination of consumer tyre production at the LaVergne facility will have no impact on the plant’s production of truck and bus tyres, adds BFNT.

Prior to making any final decisions and “in the spirit of cooperation during these challenging economic times”, the company says its stands ready to immediately begin discussions with the USW on what, if any, actions could be taken to continue consumer tyre production at the LaVergne facility. If, after these good faith discussions, the decision is made to cease most or all passenger and light truck tyre production at the plant, the ending of consumer tyre manufacturing could occur on or before June 30, 2009. This action could result in the elimination of approximately 500 hourly and salaried jobs.

While no final decision has been made regarding the elimination of consumer tyre manufacturing at the LaVergne plant, BFNT says the decision to put this idea “on the table” for serious consideration has been an extremely difficult one, as was the announcement of the layoff beginning December 21. “The steps we announced today were taken only after serious consideration of our alternatives,” said Brooks. “However, these actions are necessary in order to ensure the health of our entire North American tyre business. The appropriate union officials, as well as government and community leaders, have been contacted to explain the situation at the plant. We have held and are continuing to hold meetings with our plant teammates as well.”