On 27 January, Michelin signed an agreement with global union federation IndustriALL to set up the Michelin Global Works Council. The agreement was finalised by Florent Menegaux, chief executive officer of the Michelin Group, and Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union. Its signing follows nearly two years of discussion and negotiation.
Michelin’s plan to close its truck tyre factory in La Roche-sur-Yon, France took a step forward last Thursday when it signed an employee support agreement with four trade unions. This agreement with the CFDT, CFE‑CGC, SUD and FO unions followed 12 weeks of negotiations that took place between October and January.
The U.S. Senator representing the home state of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has written to the tyre maker, imploring it to improve the renumeration and treatment it gives workers at its plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Sherrod Brown, Senator for Ohio, urged Richard Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, to “take immediate steps” to improve both. He also criticised Goodyear’s decision to recently prevent Members of the United States Congress from touring the facility.
Thomas M. Conway has succeeded Leo W. Gerard as international president of the United Steelworkers union (USW). He became the eighth person to hold this position at a ceremony held on 15 July.
Yesterday the Federation of Chemical Workers of Hungary (VDSZ) announced the start of an indefinite strike at the Hankook Tire factory in Rácalmás, Hungary. With this measure, the trade union is placing pressure upon the tyre maker to modify the terms of the wage increase it announced for 2019. What then is Hankook Tire offering plant workers, and why doesn’t the VDSZ like it?
As reported yesterday, wage negotiations between management at Hankook Tire’s factory in Rácalmás, Hungary and the union representing plant workers have reached a stalemate. Today, the Federation of Chemical Workers of Hungary (VDSZ) announced the start of an indefinite strike at the factory.
The trade union representing workers at Hankook Tire’s factory in Hungary warns further strikes will take place unless pay rise demands are met. In a statement, the Federation of Chemical Workers of Hungary (VDSZ) warns that strikes could occur as soon as today.
The UK didn’t participate in the MSTyre15 project, yet we’ve gained a better understanding of tyre labelling non-compliance here thanks to freedom of information (FOI) requests made by Unite, the trade union representing many employed within the automotive sector in Britain and Ireland. In separate FOI responses, it was confirmed to Unite that no legislation exists to enforce Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009 and that mislabelled tyres have been sold in the UK.
It won’t be a Good Friday for Kumho Tire if an agreement between its creditors and the labour union representing its workforce isn’t reached by the end of this week. Friday 30 March is the deadline set for a formal consensus regarding the sale of a 45 per cent share in the tyre maker to China’s Qingdao Doublestar Tire for KRW 646.3 billion (£421.7 million).
Kumho Tire has been attempting to downsize for a possible sale, according to the Korea Times. At the same time, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) is threatening to withdraw support for Kumho Tire unless the tyremaker can agree restructuring terms with its trade unions. And this in turn could trigger receivership.
Leo W. Gerard, president of US-based trade union the United Steelworkers (USW), has sent a letter to South Korea’s President in which he raises concerns about Kumho Tire’s dealings with its workforce in the United States. The USW comments that this correspondence with Moon Jae-in addresses Kumho’s “union-busting actions towards its workers” and asks the South Korean government to intervene and “ensure that the workers are free to exercise their democratic rights.”
The production of Jaguar Land Rover engines at Bridgend’s Ford Engine plant will end three months earlier than expected in September 2020. The union for motor industry workers, GMB, says the news could see more than 1,100 jobs lost at Bridgend Ford alone, and has requested an urgent meeting with the cabinet secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, to discuss how best safeguard jobs in the motor industry.
Hankook could be the subject of the first strike action in its history after 86.3 per cent of its union members voted for industrial action, newspaper Korea Joongang Daily reports. The vote, with ballots cast by 4,430 out of 4,700 union members between 21 and 23 August, comes after management proposed an annual wage hike of 1 per cent.
The Belshina tyre plant is scheduled to re-start production today (1 April 2015) after production ceased on 26 March, according to the Belarusian Independent Trade Union various (BITU), in a move that is seen as indicative of wider economic concerns and is blamed on low-cost Asian tyre imports.
Artur Mikhalap, BITU chairman, commented: “The plant stopped completely, reason unknown to me, but the thinking is the same as in most enterprises – no market. Warehouses are filled up. According to my information the plant stopped only for five days, until April 1.
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