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Court Decides CTNA Must Pay Health Benefits

Following a US court ruling Continental Tire North America has been given the responsibility of compensating the healthcare expenses of a number of retired employees from plants in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina and California. The US district court in Toledo, Ohio decided that the company improperly reduced the health benefits of 3,000 former CTNA employees and their spouses.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs claimed that the CTNA decision to reduce the former employees’ health benefits resulted in couples not old enough to qualify for subsidised ‘Medicare’ health care (the minimum age for eligibility is 65) paying as much as US$1,000 a month for insurance. Many former employees were reportedly unable to afford these costs and thus were compelled to drop their healthcare cover.

6th August 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

USW, Carlyle Set New Contract, Goodyear Sale to Proceed

(Akron/Tire Review) The United Steelworkers and the Carlyle Group have reached agreement on a new five-year contract covering the four engineered products plants Carlyle is planning to acquire from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The contract paves the way for completion of the sale agreement between Goodyear and the investment group. The contract covers some 1,600 workers at plants in St. Marys, Ohio; Lincoln, Nebraska; Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; and Marysville, Ohio.

31st July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear, USW Locals Still Negotiating

(Akron/Tire Review – Topeka Capital-Journal) Six months after Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers reached a national labour agreement, negotiations continue on a local supplemental contract that has implications for employees’ work and vacation rules.”Everybody in our membership thought this would be an easy deal, but it’s proved harder,” said Glenn Griffith, vice president of Local 307.

Griffith said the national deal, or “master agreement,” sets the tone for such big-ticket items as wages and benefits, but it’s up to local negotiators to work out the smaller points, like work rules and how overtime and vacation can be scheduled. He said the union has been meeting with Goodyear since at least April.

Amy Brei, a Goodyear corporate spokeswoman, said some of the other 11 plants across the country have ratified their local agreements. She couldn’t provide numbers.

19th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Liberian BFS Workers Elect New Union Leaders

Workers in Liberia have elected union leadership to represent them in contract talks with Bridgestone/Firestone, the first time that workers themselves have elected their representatives. The election was monitored by representatives from the US unions United Steelworkers Union and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations at the invitation of a government created elections commission.

The BFS plantation in Liberia has been the scene of a number of strikes in recent times and has received unfavourable reports from Western human rights organisations. The elections were thus seen by many as a positive step. In the words of the USW, “all eight elected union positions were won by militant activists who had participated in training by the USW and had led wildcat strikes over the past two years.”

12th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

NLRB Denies Union’s Appeal Against CTNA

(Akron/Tire Review) The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has denied an administrative appeal filed by the United Steelworkers (USW) union contesting the NLRB’s earlier decision to dismiss the union’s suit against Continental Tire North America (CTNA).

The USW alleged unfair labour practices in the 2005-2006 labour negotiations between CTNA and the union at the tyremaker’s Charlotte, North Carolina manufacturing plant.

The NLRB’s general counsel concluded that CTNA’s decision to curtail tyre manufacturing at its Charlotte plant was lawful and that the company complied with its legal obligations to negotiate with the union about the decision.

“This determination resolves the legal dispute between CTNA and the union pertaining to the company’s efforts to restructure the Charlotte plant,” said CTNA. “The determination is final, and there are no other opportunities for appeal.”

6th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

USW Weighs in on Failed Legislation

(Akron/Tire Review) As expected, the United Steelworkers voiced its disappointment that the U.S. Senate pushed aside a major change to the National Labor Relations Act – the so-called Employee Free Choice Act – that would have made it considerably easier for workers to form labour unions at any sized employer.

At the same time, USW President Leo Gerard said that while the bill will not likely be passed by Congress or signed by President Bush, “the promise of the bill’s passage by a new administration is well within reach.”

Last week, the Senate voted 51-48 to move the bill forward, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed to a final vote.

3rd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Workers Accuse USW of Unfair Labour Practices

Former United Steelworkers union members who crossed picket lines during last year’s Goodyear strike in the US have filed a complaint against the union with the National Labor Relations Board. The ex-union members claim that the union’s Local 2 fined each of the workers US$620 while also continuing to collect union dues from their pay despite the termination of their union membership.

The tyre makers state their return to work was necessary for them to continue supporting their families, but according to the complaint, the Local 2 then held an internal trial committee and imposed the fine on each employee who had returned. Since that time, the complainants add, the union “has been interfering with, restraining and coercing employees.”

8th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Workers to Vote on Remuneration Scheme

At present Bridgestone and union officials are negotiating a proposed contract that could potentially see the pay of workers at a US Bridgestone plant become tied to their productivity. The new contract at the Bridgestone Firestone facility in La Vergne, Tennessee needs to be agreed upon by mid-August, and while Bridgestone officials claim that paying individual workers bonuses based on the number of tyres they produce will increase pay while making the company more profitable, the USW Local 1155, who represents the plant, has reservations about switching to this type of incentive system.

If plant workers vote in favour of the contract, the La Vergne facility will become the last remaining unionised Bridgestone tyre and inner tube plant in the US to switch to this system of remuneration. Workers and management were given 120 days to work out and vote upon an incentive plan, and while Bridgestone has made no concrete statements regarding job cuts if they do not vote in favour, company spokesman Dan McDonald said “if they don’t accept, it opens up the possibility of layoffs.”

29th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

BFNAT Gets Tentative Bloomington Deal

(Akron/Tire Review) Reports from Bloomington, Illinois, indicate that USW Local 787 has reached a tentative contract agreement with Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire. Earlier this month, BFNAT reached a tentative deal with the United Steelworkers covering tyre plants in Akron, Des Moines and LaVergne, Tennessee.

Bridgestone Americas Holding also reached contract deals with the USW for non-tire plants in Russellville, Arkansas, and Noblesville, Indiana The Bloomington OTR tyre plant was on a separate contract.

USW members at the Bloomington plant are expected to vote on the new contract this weekend and into Tuesday next week.

Votes at the other USW represented plants are expected to be completed by April 25.

According to the report, USW workers at BFNAT’s truck tyre plant in Warren County, Tennessee, also on its own contract, ratified a new three-year pact last week.

23rd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

USW, Unions in Canada and Europe Explore ‘Super-Union’

(Akron/Tire Review) Globalisation is happening everywhere. On April 18 the United Steelworkers (USW), Amicus and the Transportation & General Workers Union (T&GWU) of the United Kingdom began considering a possible merger, one that would create a labour union covering four countries and some 3.4 million members.

Representatives of the three trade unions – representing workers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland – signed an agreement in Ottawa establishing a merger committee. Within one year, the committee is expected to develop merger plans to create one super-union.

USW said the deal follows a “strategic alliance” between Amicus and the USW two years ago. Further, Amicus and T&GWU will already merge May 1, creating Unite, a union with some 2 million members. By contrast, the USW claims 850,000 members.

20th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

USW Report Slams CTNA

An executive report recently released by the United Steelworkers in the US outlines what the union refers to as “some of the company’s most stunning failures in the North American tyre market.” The USW claim that the report, titled ’20 Years Asleep at the Wheel,’ is based upon market and industry research and interviews with independent tyre dealers, and zeroes in on “major management blunders” that are reported to have cost shareholders hundreds of millions of dollars.

The report discusses several issues the USW alleges the company did not fully disclose to its shareholders, including an overemphasis on the OE market, failure to develop an effective tyre dealer network, ineffective marketing strategy and failed sourcing and supply strategy. The USW claims that information made public as part of a recent lawsuit shows management errors in these areas have cost shareholders as much as $1.2 billion during the last five years.

19th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

BFNAT Reaches Tentative Agreements With Union

(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) and its Bridgestone/Firestone Diversified Products division announced that tentative agreements have been reached with the United Steelworkers (USW).

The tyremaker said that a tentative agreement has been signed for the master contract with the USW, which covers employees at tyre plants in Akron, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; LaVergne, Tenn., as well as the Firestone tube plant in Russellville, Ark., and the Firestone air spring plant in Noblesville, Ind.

“Tentative agreements have also been reached for the maintenance group located in the LaVergne, Tenn., tyre plant and for the tyre plant in Bloomington, Ill.,” stated BFNAT.

5th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

US Labour Charges Against Continental Dismissed

In the US the Regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has dismissed allegations of unfair labour practices filed against Continental Tire North America Inc. by the United Steelworkers of America. The union filed claims against Continental last year, alleging that the tyremaker had withheld information about its intention to close its Charlotte, North Carolina plant from the union before instigating changes that affected production and staffing.

8th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Sponsorship Criticised By USW

Retirees and former employees of Continental Tires’ Charlotte facility will again join University of North Carolina (UNC) students to protest the company’s sponsorship of UNC athletics in front of the Dean Dome during the basketball game against Duke on 4 March.

6th March 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

BFNAT, USW Talks Progressing

(Akron/Tire Review) Reports from the United Steelworkers indicate that master contract negotiations with Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire are progressing. Earlier this week, the two sides held meetings at USW’s headquarters in Pittsburgh that were termed “generally positive” by the union.

26th February 2007/by Tyrepress Editors