Reply #11: Goodyear Workers Ratify New Contract Following Strike (Update2)

[ozymandius]

Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s largest union, out on strike for three months, ratified a new contract allowing North America's biggest tiremaker to shut a U.S. plant.

U.S. members of the United Steelworkers of America voted by a two-to-one margin in favor of the accord, the union said today in a statement. About 15,000 employees at 16 factories in the U.S. and Canada walked out Oct. 5, costing Goodyear $35 million a week. Canadian workers are voting on a separate accord.

The three-year agreement will save the Akron, Ohio-based company $610 million over the contract's term and allow the tiremaker to close a plant in Texas in 2008, eliminating 1,100 jobs. Goodyear says it must trim spending because of higher materials costs and competition from rivals building tires in low-cost countries.

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Under the new agreement, Goodyear agreed to push back the Tyler, Texas, plant's closure to 2008 from the second quarter of 2007. The company will contribute $700 million cash and as much as $300 million in stock to a fund for retirees' medical care.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=adiyorBw14mU&refer=us