Goodyear to cut 1,100 jobs, close tire plant in Texas

[totalmotorcycle]

Goodyear to cut 1,100 jobs, close tire plant in Texas
Closing intensifies battle between company, union
By JEFF BENNETT - Bloomberg News - 10/31/2006 - Associated Press - The Buffalo News - buffalonews.com




Goodyear employees walk the picket line outside the Tyler, Texas, plant that the company is closing.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the largest U.S. tiremaker, plans to close a Tyler, Texas, plant, eliminating 1,100 jobs and stepping up a labor dispute.

The factory is one of 16 North American plants where United Steelworkers union members have been on strike since Oct. 5. The shutdown will save about $50 million a year, after initial costs of as much as $165 million, the Akron, Ohio-based company said a statement Monday. Goodyear said it hasn't set the closing date.

The company said it needs less capacity after a June decision to drop a third of its private-label tire production. The closing announcement intensifies the battle between Goodyear and the Steelworkers union, which has opposed any more shutdowns of plants that employ its members. About 15,000 union workers are on strike after talks on a new contract stalled.

About 1,100 Steelworkers at Goodyear-Dunlop in the Town of Tonawanda are among the strikers. The plant is among those that have drafted supervisors to take the place of union workers to continue production, the company has said. Goodyear-Dunlop is the company's only U.S. producer of motorcycle tires. It also makes tires for trucks, cars and all-terrain vehicles.

The Steelworkers union said it "strongly condemned" the plant closing and called the plan "a further example of management's foolish notion that believes it can shrink a company to prosperity."

The Pittsburgh-based union, which accepted concessions in negotiations three years ago, said in July that Goodyear wants to close as many as two U.S. factories.

The union and Goodyear haven't scheduled a return to negotiations, said Ed Markey, a company spokesman. Goodyear doesn't need union approval to close the Tyler plant because the labor contract expired July 22, he said. The company continues to produce and ship tires during the strike, Markey said.

The Tyler plant opened in 1962 and makes about 25,000 small-diameter tires daily for cars and light trucks. About 950 of its employees are hourly workers. Markey couldn't say when Goodyear will record the costs for the closing.

"We must take the steps necessary to reduce our costs and improve our competitive position," Jon Rich, president of Goodyear's North American tire unit, said in the statement.

Markey said he couldn't comment on whether Goodyear will seek to close another U.S. plant.

"We will survive and we'll thrive, but it's a real hit and it'll take some time to get over it," Tyler Mayor Joey Seeber, 42, said. "These were high-paying, good manufacturing jobs."

Seeber in an interview added that "there is a glimmer of hope because the union has said they'll fight this, but I am not sure there's much they can do at this point."

The Steelworkers union said that Goodyear can't produce safe, quality products during the strike and that "the company's decision to bring in unskilled and untrained temporary workers from the street is another weak attempt to convince our customers and investors that everything's all right."

Goodyear in June said it would cut the private-label production to focus on more profitable tires, with 10 private-label brands bought primarily by wholesalers to be dropped by June 2007. Goodyear has been under mounting pressure from competitors such as Bridgestone Corp. that make more tires in lower-cost regions outside of the U.S.

The company has about 80,000 employees worldwide.