GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- Union members at three BFGoodrich Tire Manufacturing plants approved multi-year labor agreements more than three weeks after continued talks averted a strike.þþThe deal covers about 3,400 employees represented by the United Steelworkers of America at plants in Tuscaloosa and Opelika, Ala., and Ft. Wayne, Ind., and 1,000 workers in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.þþBFGoodrich, a division of Michelin, announced the ratification late Thursday in a statement from Michelin's North American headquarters in Greenville.þþThe U.S. workers voted 70 percent in favor of the contract Thursday. The Ontario workers approved a similar agreement Monday with a 94 percent vote. Both agreements will expire on July 22, 2006, the union said.þþ``Although negotiations were long and difficult, our membership's patience and determination paid off with a new agreement that preserves jobs and ensures a future for all four plants, which were endangered by foreign imports and lack of investment,'' said John Sellers, USWA executive vice president.þþ
Source: NY Times
