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13 April, 2006
ICEM’s US affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) opened up the possibility for strike action at Continental Tyre’s North America plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. The decision by the union to authorise a strike if deemed necessary, a common action for trade unions in the US, is the logical result of the failure so far to get to an agreement between the workers at Continental and local management.
Current collective bargaining has been ongoing for over half a year and remains dead-locked, due to the harsh demands by the company. The USW now said it wants a new agreement before April 30, when the current agreement ends. Continental, which threatened earlier to suspend tyre production indefinitely in Charlotte as of September 2006, wants to cut costs at the Charlotte plant by US$32 million. Amongst other things, this plan proposes across-the-board 35% pay cuts.
Last year, the company already announced that it would make redundant 510 of the plant’s 1,083 jobs in 2006. In March,140 workers were dismissed, and 170 more are scheduled to suffer the same fate in May.
The USW since made a few more realistic counter-proposals, which do include job security provisions and a guarantee towards future productivity. So far, to no avail. The USW also strongly protests against the company’s threat that it may start to alter benefits for its retirees as soon as the insurance agreement expires, which would be 90 days after the expiry date of the current bargaining agreement.