Bridgestone Workers in US Ratify Collective Agreement

USW members in the US at Bridgestone/Firestone tyre plants ratified a master agreement late in June with the Japanese rubber manufacturer. The agreement runs until next year, 2006, and USW won job security for workers and capitalization commitments from the company at most plants grouped in the master agreement. BSF has committed some US$200 million in capital improvements through 2006. USW took no concessions, gained value on a pension plan, and made the company pay past cost-of living advances. Some 6,000 USW members had collective agreements lapse in 2003, and a majority of union members in six bargaining units tied to the master pact voted acceptance. At two other BSF US plants not tied to the master contract, one workforce voted for the agreement while one did not.