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14 July, 2005ICEM News Release No. 54/1999
Some 1,450 US tyre workers at General Tire's Charlotte plant yesterday (Sunday) voted overwhelmingly to approve a new labour agreement.
The vote, by members of Local 850 of US tyre workers' union the USWA, ends a year-long strike at the General Tire plant and delivers the largest wage and benefit increases negotiated in the US tyre industry in decades.
General Tire is a subsidiary of global tyremaker Continental, and international trade union solidarity played an important part in the resolution of the dispute.
The new contract for employees at the plant provides for the first general wage increases since 1989, restores full cost-of-living adjustments in wages, and includes substantial pension improvements, 100% family health insurance coverage, and a return to work for all strikers who chose to do so.
The labour agreement in Charlotte ends a contentious strike that began one year ago today, on 20 September 1998, when collective bargaining between labour and management broke down because of what the union charged were unfair labour practices by the company.
USWA President George Becker hailed the agreement as "a victory for tyre workers throughout the industry. By bringing wages and pensions at General Tire in line with the industry pattern, we have ensured that all companies in the industry will be competing on a level playing field, instead of using lower wages and benefits to gain a competitive advantage."
In addition to the settlement in Charlotte, the USWA simultaneously negotiated tentative agreements at General Tire’s plants in Mayfield, Kentucky and Bryan, Ohio, pending resolution of local issues. Contracts at all three plants will now expire in close proximity in 2006.
"The men and women of our local toughed it out," said Earl Propst, President of Local 850. "Only 15 crossed the picket line during this strike. Our solidarity set a standard that has seldom been matched by workers anywhere in the South."
Propst said the strikers had a high degree of support from non-union as well as union workers in the Carolinas. This support was evident at the large Labor Day demonstration held in Charlotte this month, attended by some 5,000 union workers and their families.
GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
At the global level, the USWA is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The strikers' case in the year-long dispute was bolstered by a worldwide trade union campaign coordinated by the ICEM. Public information activities included a major protest at last summer’s Continental shareholders’ meeting in Germany. The international corporate campaign also included:
- a solidarity drive that galvanised support among workers at the company's plants in the US and abroad
- a European tour by Charlotte strikers and their families, which generated widespread media coverage
- a sympathy strike by South African tyre builders
- an Australian union picket of the German consulate in Sydney
- a special ICEM cybercampaign on the World Wide Web
- informational protests at tyre dealerships throughout the US
- a nationwide US campaign targeting Ford Motor Company dealers and their customers with information about Ford’s purchase of tyres made by inexperienced replacement workers.
THE AGREEMENT
Key provisions of the new labour agreement include:
- General wage increases in three of the six years of the agreement.
- Cost-of-living provisions that, added to negotiated raises, will result in total estimated increases of $2.97 an hour.
- Pension improvements that during the life of the contract increase the pension multiplier from less than US$30 per month per year of service to a minimum of $41 - more when and if industry pension levels increase.
- Improved incentive pay provisions.
- Preservation of a host of benefit and contract protections, including health insurance coverage, bidding rights, seniority, voluntary overtime, maintenance labour jobs, light duty pay and protection against random drug tests.
- Special economic benefits for employees who want to retire early.
John Sellers, Vice President of the USWA’s rubber and plastic industry conference, said, "This new contract restores Continental General Tire to the industry-wide patterns our union has worked so hard to maintain for workers in the rubber and tyre industries. And the way it was won reminds every tyre company of how strong our commitment to pattern bargaining is."
"This is an excellent outcome and a full vindication of the campaign by the USWA and the ICEM," commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "International labour solidarity played an important part in achieving a just resolution to this dispute. When workers organise globally, they can prevail. Workers everywhere - and employers everywhere - should never forget that."
The vote, by members of Local 850 of US tyre workers' union the USWA, ends a year-long strike at the General Tire plant and delivers the largest wage and benefit increases negotiated in the US tyre industry in decades.
General Tire is a subsidiary of global tyremaker Continental, and international trade union solidarity played an important part in the resolution of the dispute.
The new contract for employees at the plant provides for the first general wage increases since 1989, restores full cost-of-living adjustments in wages, and includes substantial pension improvements, 100% family health insurance coverage, and a return to work for all strikers who chose to do so.
The labour agreement in Charlotte ends a contentious strike that began one year ago today, on 20 September 1998, when collective bargaining between labour and management broke down because of what the union charged were unfair labour practices by the company.
USWA President George Becker hailed the agreement as "a victory for tyre workers throughout the industry. By bringing wages and pensions at General Tire in line with the industry pattern, we have ensured that all companies in the industry will be competing on a level playing field, instead of using lower wages and benefits to gain a competitive advantage."
In addition to the settlement in Charlotte, the USWA simultaneously negotiated tentative agreements at General Tire’s plants in Mayfield, Kentucky and Bryan, Ohio, pending resolution of local issues. Contracts at all three plants will now expire in close proximity in 2006.
"The men and women of our local toughed it out," said Earl Propst, President of Local 850. "Only 15 crossed the picket line during this strike. Our solidarity set a standard that has seldom been matched by workers anywhere in the South."
Propst said the strikers had a high degree of support from non-union as well as union workers in the Carolinas. This support was evident at the large Labor Day demonstration held in Charlotte this month, attended by some 5,000 union workers and their families.
GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
At the global level, the USWA is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The strikers' case in the year-long dispute was bolstered by a worldwide trade union campaign coordinated by the ICEM. Public information activities included a major protest at last summer’s Continental shareholders’ meeting in Germany. The international corporate campaign also included:
- a solidarity drive that galvanised support among workers at the company's plants in the US and abroad
- a European tour by Charlotte strikers and their families, which generated widespread media coverage
- a sympathy strike by South African tyre builders
- an Australian union picket of the German consulate in Sydney
- a special ICEM cybercampaign on the World Wide Web
- informational protests at tyre dealerships throughout the US
- a nationwide US campaign targeting Ford Motor Company dealers and their customers with information about Ford’s purchase of tyres made by inexperienced replacement workers.
THE AGREEMENT
Key provisions of the new labour agreement include:
- General wage increases in three of the six years of the agreement.
- Cost-of-living provisions that, added to negotiated raises, will result in total estimated increases of $2.97 an hour.
- Pension improvements that during the life of the contract increase the pension multiplier from less than US$30 per month per year of service to a minimum of $41 - more when and if industry pension levels increase.
- Improved incentive pay provisions.
- Preservation of a host of benefit and contract protections, including health insurance coverage, bidding rights, seniority, voluntary overtime, maintenance labour jobs, light duty pay and protection against random drug tests.
- Special economic benefits for employees who want to retire early.
John Sellers, Vice President of the USWA’s rubber and plastic industry conference, said, "This new contract restores Continental General Tire to the industry-wide patterns our union has worked so hard to maintain for workers in the rubber and tyre industries. And the way it was won reminds every tyre company of how strong our commitment to pattern bargaining is."
"This is an excellent outcome and a full vindication of the campaign by the USWA and the ICEM," commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "International labour solidarity played an important part in achieving a just resolution to this dispute. When workers organise globally, they can prevail. Workers everywhere - and employers everywhere - should never forget that."