AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- The tension surrounding the three-week strike by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. workers increased Monday after the tire maker said it was closing its plant in Tyler, Texas.þþThe fate of the plant and its 1,100 employees had been a key difference in negotiations that have been stalled since more than 12,000 workers in the United States and Canada went on strike Oct. 5.þþThe United Steelworkers union, which represents Goodyear employees, says it's against the company's plan to close the Texas plant and a factory in Gadsden, Ala. Goodyear has refused to discuss details of its last contract offer but has said it wants the union to help the company be competitive in a global economy.þþGoodyear said shuttering the 44-year-old Tyler plant and eliminating the jobs is part of the world's third largest tire maker's strategy to end some of its private label tire business. No closing date was given.þþ''We must take the steps necessary to reduce our costs and improve our competitive position,'' Jon Rich, president of North American Tire, said in a statement. ''While this is an extremely difficult decision for everyone involved, it was required to help turn around our North American business.''þþMeanwhile, the steelworkers union criticized Goodyear for hiring temporary workers, saying the company is incapable of making safe, dependable tires without its union work force.þþGoodyear is hiring an unspecified number of temporary workers at 12 plants affected by the strike, including the Tyler plant.þþJim Taylor, who's worked at the Tyler plant for 26 years, said he's now considering electrician jobs in Mississippi and Florida.þþ''I feel very frustrated and very let down. I spent this amount of time at Goodyear and now still have to go look for another job,'' he said.þþGoodyear said in June that it wanted to leave parts of the private label tire business and that the decision would mean a reduction in capacity. But the company then refused to name specific plants.þþGoodyear previously announced to investors an aggressive strategy to reduce costs by more than $1 billion by 2008.þþThe plant, which opened in 1962, has produced about 25,000 passenger and light truck tires per day, and officials in the city about 100 miles east of Dallas have offered Goodyear a $12 million incentive package to try to get the tire maker, one of the area's largest employers, to stay.þþThe United Steelworkers said the announcement to close the plant was a slap in the face, particularly because the union took pay cuts, job losses and other concessions in 2003 to help get the company back on track financially.þþGoodyear executives throughout the strike have said they want a contract that would help save American manufacturing but Monday's announcement doesn't jive with that, the union said.þþ''Now they seem committed to stripping away health care benefits from those who made the turnaround possible and to further close plants and abandon the business,'' said Tom Conway, USW vice president and chairman of the Goodyear negotiating team. ''Their foolishness is outweighed only by their greed.''þþAt the company's headquarters in Akron, where union members have been picketing around-the-clock, strikers said they were saddened by the closing announcement but not surprised.þþ''If they're closing that plant I'm sorry to hear it. You don't want to lose any jobs,'' said Frank Parravani, a 39-year employee who stood near about a dozen grave headstones made out of wood with the names of Goodyear plants on them, including Tyler, Gadsden and others.þþRobert Beal, a 42-year employee, stood near a pumpkin with ''PRAY'' written on it and a skeleton hanging from a noose and wearing a Goodyear cap. He said he believes Goodyear would have closed the Tyler plant regardless of what the union did, but held out hope that the plant would reopen.þþAt the local union hall in Akron, USW Local 2L spokesman David Prentice acknowledged the closing wasn't expected.þþ''I would say it's a surprise,'' he said. ''It's dirty for them to do it.''þþThe Tyler plant mostly makes small passenger tires, a segment that has been under considerable pressure from low cost imports.þþGoodyear expects the Tyler closing to save it approximately $50 million a year after taxes. The closing will result in a restructuring charge of between $155 million and $165 million, with the cash portion of the charges estimated to be between $40 million and $50 million, the company said.þþBut at least one labor expert said the announcement's impact can be measured in more than dollar figures.þþ''Goodyear's plans to close down the plant will further aggravate matters in terms of attempting to resolve contract issues and worker strikes,'' said David Gregory, a professor of law, labor and employment at St. John's University. ''The move and subsequent job eliminations will prolong the problems that came to a head on Oct. 5th.''þþGoodyear shares closed up 22 cents to $15.18 in trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have been trading between $9.75 and $19.31 over the last year.þþThe company employs about 80,000 people in 28 countries.þþ
Source: NY Times
