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USW Members Approve Goodyear Contract, Ending Three-Month Strike |
By more than a 2-1 margin, United Steelworkers (USW) members have approved a new three-year contract with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., officially ending an 86-day strike that began Oct. 5, the union announced today.
Voting was completed Thursday at 12 Goodyear locations in the United States, where 14,000 USW members were on strike, the union said. The strikers will begin returning to work on Tuesday.
“The credit really belongs to our members and their families, whose solidarity prevented the company from short-changing them, despite all its attempts,” USW International President Leo W. Gerard said after the vote.
“Special thanks go out again to all of our AFL-CIO union affiliates, activist groups, community organizations, businesses and public officials who not only understood our struggle, but stood shoulder to shoulder with us,” Gerard added.
The U.S. contract establishes a company-financed trust fund of more than $1 billion that will secure medical and prescription drug benefits for current and future retirees, the union said. Future contributions will include cost-of-living payments and profit-sharing funds.
The new contract also requires Goodyear to drop its demand for immediate closure of its tire-manufacturing plant in Tyler, Texas. The contract provides one-year period of transition during which workers at Tyler will have the opportunity “to take advantage of sizeable retirement buyouts,” the union said.
“It took a strike, but we achieved a fair and equitable contract that protects quality health care for active and retired members,” USW Executive Vice President Ron Hoover said.
The U.S. contract covers workers at Goodyear plants in Akron, St. Mary’s and Marysville, Ohio; Gadsden, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Lincoln, Neb.; Topeka, Kan.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Danville, Va.; Sun Prairie, Wis.; Union City, Tenn.; and Tyler.
Some 400 USW-represented workers at four Goodyear plants in Ontario, Canada, were still considering a separate agreement.
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