Goodyear, USW buy Time with 2 Week Contract Extension

Goodyear and the United Steelworkers of America have agreed to an extension of their national contract, taking their agreement up to 29 August.

Around 10,300 workers across Goodyear’s seven US plants will remain covered, as talks continue about lengthier deals. The previous three-year contract was to have expired on 18 July, but was initially extended for four weeks while a new master contract was negotiated. The contract talks cover workers in Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; Danville, Virginia.; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Gadsden, Alabama; Topeka, Kansas; and Union City, Tennessee. Talks began in June in Cincinnati and continue.

The Goodyear plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina – where 3,000 of the affected workers are stationed – is represented at the Cincinnati talks by Darryl Jackson. He told the local paper, the Fayettville Observer, that the extension was “a good thing. It means we’re making progress.”

Meanwhile, continued the paper’s report, Jim Allen, who is the chief negotiator of the deal for Goodyear, stated, “We have made progress on some of the significant issues. We recognize that we need the additional time to work through the remaining issues, and we remain confident that a satisfactory agreement will be reached.” It is thought that the major issues under discussion include job security and ensuring the company’s competitiveness in the current market climate.