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USWA’s Master Tyre Contract in US Extended to Yokohama

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19 July, 2005

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) extended the US national rubber agreement to another tyre company when workers of Yokohama Tire Corp of Japan ratified an agreement in Salem, Virginia. Similar to USWA’s rubber workers employed at Goodyear and Michelin’s B.F. Goodrich, the 670 trade unionists in the state of Virginia won guaranteed job security measures, as well as increases to their pension formula. USWA currently is in talks with Bridgestone/Firestone over the same issues—job security, capital investment in US unionized tyre sites and other economics—at BSF’s US tyre factories. Talks on the US pattern agreement for rubber have followed extensions for most companies since 2003 expirations. Bargaining broke off, however, between Continental Tire and USWA during mid-term negotiations when the German company proposed concessionary terms including increased out-of-pocket health care costs for retirees.