Steelworkers ``Target'' Goodyear - Union Designates Company as Lead in Forging Template to Serve as Pattern Agreement for Master Contracts With Other Companies

    PITTSBURGH--April 7, 2003--News From USWA: The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) announced late this afternoon that Goodyear has been selected as the "target company" in the 2003 master contract negotiations in the rubber and tire industry. Representatives from USWA bargaining committees engaged in contract talks with Bridgestone/Firestone (BFS), Uniroyal/Goodrich, Michelin (UGMT) and Goodyear voted today in Cincinnati, Ohio.
    "The fact that Goodyear is the largest single employer of our members was significant in the selection," stated USWA executive vice president John Sellers; "that combined with February's Policy Committee's decision to make job security through investment in our North American facilities the top priority in this round of bargaining."
    The union strongly rejects Goodyear Company plans to close American facilities and to service the North American market with tires built outside the country.
    "Labor costs are not the root of Goodyear's problems," stated Sellers. "The other companies in the industry operate under the pattern agreement and make money."
    The purpose of pattern agreements is to provide a level playing field for employees when it comes to the cost of labor. This compels employers to compete on the basis of product and service quality, innovation, up-to-date technology and management.
    Representatives from the other union bargaining teams also had hoped to be designated the lead. "We're disappointed that we're not the target because we firmly believe our hard work was very instrumental in returning BFS to profitability so soon after the 2000 recall," stated Bob Bianchi, president of Local 310, Des Moines, Iowa and a member of the USWA bargaining team negotiating with Bridgestone/Firestone.
    "We thought we might have had a shot at being the lead, given that we are a successful component of Michelin's operations here in North America," stated William Hart, president of
    Local 753 in Opelika, Alabama and a member of the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Manufacturing Policy Committee.
    Talks with the three companies began in mid-March.
    The USWA Goodyear/Kelly-Springfield/Dunlop bargaining committee represents approximately 20,000 members and 22,000 retirees across the U.S. Negotiations are being conducted in Cincinnati. The three-year master contracts were negotiated in 2000 and are set to expire on April 19, 2003 at the Goodyear and Dunlop facilities, and on July 6, 2003 at the Kelly-Springfield plants.
    The negotiations with Bridgestone-Firestone are taking place in St. Louis and cover 6,000 workers in eight U.S. plants. The expiration to the current contract is April 23, 2003. The Uniroyal/Goodrich, Michelin contract expires on the same date. Talks covering 4,000 members in three facilities have been taking place in Knoxville, Tennessee.
    Overall, the USWA represents 1.2 million active and retired members in North America, including nearly 90,000 active workers in the rubber and plastics industry. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the USWA has 12 districts spanning the continent and more than 2,000 locals.
    www.uswa.org