The last time the United Steelworkers union negotiated contracts with the big three U.S. tire companies that employ thousands, the nation was still reeling from the Great Recession.
That was in 2009. Those largely concessionary contracts expire this summer.
On Monday, negotiations begin in Cincinnati between the Pittsburgh-based Steelworkers and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Talks involving Tennessee-based Bridgestone Americas and South Carolina-based Michelin and its B.F. Goodrich division will start later.
The Steelworkers and Bridgestone Americas are scheduled to begin negotiating June 5 in Jeffersonville, Ind., just north across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky., according to the union.
BFGoodrich/Michelin talks will start June 16 in Knoxville, Tenn., the union said.
Steelworker contracts with all three tire makers expire July 27. Neither the companies nor the union had much to say ahead of the talks.
Generally, the Steelworkers will be discussing wages, health care and retirement security, plus issues specific to their locals, said a union spokesman in Pittsburgh.
“There’s really nothing to talk about until negotiations begin,” Steelworkers spokesman Wayne Ranick said.
“As always, our goal is to reach an agreement that is fair to both the union and the company, an agreement that helps Goodyear be competitive in a rapidly changing tire industry,” a company spokesman said.
Goodyear still needs to build sustainable economic value for the long term after returning its North American Tire business to profitability last year in a weak economic environment, the company said in a statement. The company said it still intends to make its NASCAR tires in Akron.
North American Tire President Steve McClellan will make opening comments in Cincinnati on Monday, the company said.
Pensions will be among the contract topics among many other issues important to both sides, Goodyear said.
Pact talks website
The company once again intends to launch, possibly as early as Tuesday, a contract negotiations-related website. It will be up to each of the Steelworkers bargaining committees to decide if they also want to put up contract related websites as has been done previously, the union said.
The number of Steelworkers employed by Goodyear in the United States is down about 43 percent from the end of 2003, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Goodyear’s filings show it employed about 14,000 Steelworkers 10 years ago; as of the end of 2012 the company said it employed about 8,000 USW members. In Akron, Goodyear has about 260 USW employees in Local 2L who make the company’s NASCAR race tires.
Four years ago, Goodyear was losing money when it entered negotiations with the Steelworkers. Back then, both the union and the company clearly remembered the painful 12-week Steelworkers strike of 2006. (That 2006 contract resulted in the creation of an independent health-care fund called a VEBA for the union and cleared the way for Goodyear to close its Tyler, Texas, tire factory. Goodyear lost $330 million for the year.)
There was less drama in the 2009 talks. Negotiations back then started in June with union leaders saying the top priority was to preserve jobs. Goodyear locals that September ratified the current contract.
A lot of belt tightening
And after a lot of belt tightening that included another plant closing and following what it called its “strategic roadmap,” the Akron tire company is back in the black.
In 2011, Goodyear closed its Union City, Tenn., tire factory where about 1,900 people worked building passenger car and truck tires. The year 2011 also was the first since 2007 that Goodyear showed an annual profit.
Goodyear’s critical North American Tire division, which accounts for nearly half of the company’s revenue, made an operating profit of more than $500 million in 2012 after losing money in 2009. The division beat internal profitability targets of $450 million a year ahead of schedule.
But domestic tire sales remain flat, at essentially recessionary levels. The U.S. economy is recovering but hardly thriving, with jobless rates still well above what are considered normal levels.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.