Supporters Rally for Goodyear Strikers at 150 Events

by Mike Hall, Dec 18, 2006

Union members participated in Goodyear Day of Action events across the nation, including one at Harrisburg, Pa.

They were singing a familiar holiday tune Saturday outside a Goodyear tire store in Portland, Ore.

But the lyrics to “Away in a Manger” intoned by United Steelworkers (USW) and other area union members and allies had a twist:

“Away in the future, no health care at all.

“No pensions or good jobs or sweet union hall.

“We can’t let that happen, that’s why we must be

“Supporting this strike till justice we see.”

The Oregon action was just one of more than 150 National Day of Action events at Goodyear tire stores around the country Saturday to support some 15,000 USW members forced out on strike in October.

Goodyear refuses to back away from its contract demands that include shutting its third U.S. plant in four years and gutting retiree health care. Meanwhile, the company is importing tires from its plants overseas, including China, where its workers earn just 42 cents an hour.

In Ohio, USW President Leo W. Gerard rallied with strikers and community allies in Akron and Parma. He says:

They are literally stealing the money out of our retirees’ pockets….We will not let them rob our members of their dignity in their retirement years.

The storefront demonstrations were designed to spotlight the unreasonable contract demands Goodyear is making despite posting huge profits. The actions also protested the elimination of U.S. manufacturing jobs by Goodyear and other corporations.

Marching outside a Duluth, Minn., Goodyear store, USW organizer Kevin Fahey said:

We have nothing against this local business. But what Goodyear is doing is another corporate attack on American manufacturing.

In Granite City, Ill., some 75 USW members and other union members and community supporters marched for two hours in front of a Goodyear tire outlet. Says USW District 7 representative Dave Dowling:

I think the American people are very, very disturbed about the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. People sense the middle class is under attack.

Gerard says:

As these giant corporations desert North American communities, the middle class is dying a painful death—deprived of the dream of good jobs and retirement security.

Meanwhile in Lincoln, Neb., some 50 striking USW Local 286 members and allies warned the tire-buying public about the replacement workers. Since the strike began Oct. 5, Goodyear has hired untrained temporary workers to staff its plants. Gary Schaefer, Local 286 vice president, says:

We know what it takes to build tires, and unskilled workers just can’t do it. We do not want the general public risking their lives.

Goodyear striker Ronnie Wardup echoes those concerns:

Whenever tires are made, they need to be made by professionals. It’s a safety issue.

Negotiations between the USW and Goodyear are scheduled to resume today.

Through the AFL-CIO Working Families Network, you can contribute to the USW Strike Fund. Make a generous donation to workers. Every penny of your donation will go to striking USW families. Click here to donate.

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