19 September, 2005
Global Solidarity
A newsletter for unionised Goodyear workers world-wide
ICEM World Rubber Conference Set for Brazil on October 28-29
The World Conference for the Rubber Industry will take place later this month in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Since the last conference held in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the effects of globalization – corporate mergers and acquisitions and new strategic alliances – have become more evident in the rubber industries.
The ICEM has determined that the agenda for the conference will focus on:
- Economics, future trends and their impact on workers
- Occupational safety and health and the environment
- Global trade union networks
- Global company agreements and other industrial initiatives including employee participation.
The conference will be chaired by United Steelworkers of America (USWA) International President, Leo W.Gerard, the chair of the ICEM rubber section.
Turkish unions win new settlement
In late May, Turkish union leaders and three foreign joint venture tire makers reached an agreement and averted the possibility of a strike in the crisis-hit country.
The government earlier had ordered a postponement of strike plans by Lastik-Is, the rubber union at the leading tire plants of Turk Pirelli, Goodyear and Brisa Bridgestone.
Talks between the union and the firms on pay and social security payments for 2002-2003 had hit difficulties amid a deep economic recession sparked by a financial crisis in February 2001.
Goodyear Cancels Continental Carbon Contract
At the request of the United Steelworkers of America, the company canceled its contract with Continental Carbon in late September. Continental Carbon, a producer of carbon black used to make tires, locked out its union workforce in Ponca City, Oklahoma on May 7, 2001.
The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers’ (PACE), which represents the Ponca City locked out workers, has escalated a corporate campaign to include warnings to tire manufacturers, such as Goodyear and Bridgestone, and consumers about the company using replacement workers to manufacture carbon black at the Ponca City plant.
Polish Unit Improves Financially
Debica, the Polish unit of Goodyear, reported a strong second quarter this year. The company attributed the performance to restructuring and a stronger Euro currency.
Last year, the company reduced its workforce by 20%, laying off 800 workers. It also cut general expenses by a similar amount.
Since Debica garners about 70% of its sales from exports, the strengthening of the Euro is expected to continue bettering Debica’s results.
U.S. Mold Plant Will Close
It appears that more than 100 workers at Goodyear’s Stow, Ohio mold plant will lose their jobs. The facility is currently operating at less than a third of its capacity.
Thirty years ago, Stow was the only manufacturer of tire molds for the company’s American tire plants.
That changed in the mid-‘90s when the company opened a nonunion mold shop in Statesville, North Carolina. In recent years, the Stow shop focused on molds for racing and experimental tires.
To save money, the company now farms out much of its mold manufacturing to independent plants and has reallocated work among it offshore mold plants in Brazil and Luxembourg.
Company Increases Stake in Slovenia Venture
Goodyear announced this spring that it had increased its holdings in its joint venture with Sava Tires of Slovenia from 60% to 80%. Since 1998, Goodyear has invested more than $90 million in modernizing the facility. It holds the right to buy the remaining 20% stake in 2004 and 2005.
The investments increase the company’s position in the Eastern European tire market. In 2001, Sava produced more than 6 million car and truck tires at its Kranj, Slovenia facility. The company has 1,400 workers.
Company Plans Expansions
Goodyear has committed nearly $500 million to three major projects. Two of the expansions are planned in the U.S. and the other is slated for China. In addition, the company has committed to a smaller project at a joint venture in New Zealand.
In the U.S., the company plans to spend $250 million over four to five years to modernize its Lawton/Fort Sill, Okla., radial passenger tire facility.
It will spend another $120 million to modernize its Topeka, Kan., farm and earthmover/off-the-road tire plant that will upgrade equipment, processing and technology during the next five years.
In China, Goodyear will invest $120 million through 2006 to nearly triple production capacity for passenger tires at its Dalian facility. Capacity will rise to 5.3 million units by 2006, when employment will double to 1,000.
In New Zealand, Goodyear's South Pacific Tyres Ltd. joint venture will invest about $5 million at its Upper Hutt passenger car tire plant this year to expand output nearly two-thirds to 2.4 million tires annually.