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Union Takes Picket Lines to Tire Stores    [

    US Army Might Break Goodyear Strike
    By Bernard Simon
    The Financial Times

    Friday 15 December 2006

    Toronto - The US Army is considering measures to force striking workers back to their jobs at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in Kansas in the face of a looming shortage of tires for Humvee trucks and other military equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    A strike involving 17,000 members of the United Steelworkers union has crippled 16 Goodyear plants in the US and Canada since October 5.

    The main issues in dispute are the company's plans to close a unionised plant in Texas, and a proposal for workers to shoulder future increases in healthcare costs.

    An army spokeswoman said on Friday that "there's not a shortage right now but there possibly will be one in the future."

    According to Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House of Representatives armed services committee, the strike has cut output of Humvee tires by about 35 per cent.

    Mr. Hunter said that the army had stopped supplying tires to units not related to the Central Command, which is responsible for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tires were also not being provided to army repair depots.

    While concern has centred on the Humvees, tires are also critical to aircraft and other military equipment.

    Goodyear brushed off concerns of looming shortages, saying that production at the Kansas plant, where the Humvee tires are made, "is near normal levels and will be back to 100 per cent in the near future."

    It added that "we're in daily contact with the military to ensure delivery of the required Humvee tires."

    The company said it was using salaried and temporary workers to keep the Kansas plant running. It has taken similar measures at other plants, as well as stepping up imports from overseas factories to maintain supplies to the car and truck industry.

    The union claims that the strikebound plants are running at about 20 per cent of capacity. Goodyear has said that North American output is at about half normal levels, including non-union plants.

    According to Mr. Hunter, the army is exploring a possible injunction under the Taft-Hartley Act to force the 200 Kansas workers back to their jobs.

    He proposed that they return under their current terms of employment, on the understanding that any settlement would be extended to them.

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    Union Takes Picket Lines to Tire Stores
    By Nate Jenkins
    The Associated Press

    Sunday 17 December 2006

    Lincoln, Nebraska - Union members battling Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. took their picket lines to about 150 tire retailers in Canada and the U.S. on Saturday, making their case directly to consumers for health care and retirement benefits.

    In Lincoln, about 50 United Steelworkers members protested at two Goodyear retailers, decrying the company's use of replacement workers during the two-month strike.

    "We know what it takes to build tires, and unskilled workers just can't do it," said Gary Schaefer, 54, vice president of the United Steelworkers Local 286 in Lincoln. "We do not want the general public riding their lives on temporary workers."

    Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey said the protests do not affect plans to return to the bargaining table, scheduled to resume Monday in Pittsburgh for the first time since meetings broke off Nov. 17.

    "Our goals in the negotiations remains the same, and that is to reach a fair agreement that enables us to be competitive and win with our customers," he said.

    The company's temporary workers are qualified and received the same training as all new employees, Mr. Markey said. "Goodyear will never compromise quality," he said.

    About 15,000 workers are on strike at 12 U.S. and four Canadian plants, including union members on layoff, sick leave or other time off. Goodyear workers went on strike Oct. 5 after talks broke down on a new contract.

    Since the strike began, Goodyear has been making tires at some of its North American plants with nonunion and temporary workers as well as some managers and relying on production at its international plants to help supply North American customers.

    In suburban Pittsburgh, more than 80 people handed out fliers and urged holiday shoppers driving past a Goodyear service centre to honk in support of employees.

    "I'd say (we're getting) a lot of support, and that's what we're doing: educating the public on what the dispute is about," said John Sellers, a retired Steelworkers official.

    Leo Gerard, USW international president, said the protests were intended to inform consumers about what the union believes is unfair treatment by Goodyear, including plans to slash health care and retirement benefits.

    AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the labor group's decision to join forces with the USW for the protests was a statement by working people to Goodyear and other companies.

    "We're going to hold the line for the nation's middle class. Working people everywhere have been pushed to the brink by giant multinational conglomerates like Goodyear," Mr. Sweeney said. "We're going to push back."

    In Utah, which has no Goodyear manufacturing plants, about two dozen people waived signs along a busy thoroughfare and chanted, "Goodyear, broken promises don't fly."

    "It's a solidarity meeting," said activist Archie Archuleta, a retired teacher and union member. "Wherever union workers are on strike we try to support them."

    Goodyear has said it intends to close its Tyler, Texas, tire plant by next year because the company is ending production of low-profit private-label tires. The union wants all plants protected from closing. The USW also strongly objected to a company proposal for creating a retirees' health care trust, which the union argues shortchanges retirees.

    Goodyear executives have said they are seeking a contract that will help the company be globally competitive. The company has said its offer protects wages, proposes upgrades to union plants and offers a plan to provide health care coverage for retirees.