USW Members at Bridgestone-Firestone Ratify New Four-Year Contracts

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 3, 2009; The United Steelworkers (USW) announced today that its members at Bridgestone-Firestone ratified by more than a 2:1 ratio new four-year contracts covering 4,500 workers at seven tire and rubber product plants. The expiration date is July 27, 2013.

A master agreement covers plants in Akron, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Russellville, Ark; and, LaVergne, Tenn. A separate agreement was ratified at Warren County, Tenn.

Despite negotiating in these difficult economic times, the USW was able to protect wages and benefits. Quality healthcare was preserved for both active and retiree, and coverage for new hires was drastically improved. New hires will also continue to participate in the Defined Benefit retirement plan.

The USW had already successfully concluded negotiations for 2,500 members at Michelin North America Inc.'s BFGoodrich plants in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Tuscaloosa, Ala in August and for more than 10,000 members at seven Goodyear plants last month.

The USW represents about 1.2 million active and retired members in North America in a wide variety of industries, ranging from paper, steel, tire and rubber and other manufacturing environments to the public sector, service and health care industries.