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Photo by Van Tenpenny.8 winter 2007 • USW@Work
GOODYEAR CONTRACTIf there was one thing that helpedbring about a settlement to a bitter 86-day strike at Goodyear, it was solidarity— workers and communities stickingtogether."The credit really belongs to ourmembers and their families, whose solidarityprevented the company fromshort-changing them, despite all of itsattempts,'' USW President Leo W. Gerardsaid after a new three-year contract wasapproved.That solidarity came not just fromwithin the United Steelworkers and itsnearly 15,000 members at 16 productionsites in the United States and Canada, butfrom the labor movement at large, andfrom the communities where Goodyearoperates tire and engineered rubber productsplants and retail outlets.People across the country donatedfood, firewood and both moral and financialsupport. They stood in solidaritywith our members onthe picket lines, and helped to sustaintheir resolve during difficult times —especially the Thanksgiving andChristmas holidays.Fight for the middle class"The community did not just see us as'those poor men and women on the picketline over there,' " said David Prentice,political coordinator for USW Local 2 inAkron, Ohio, where Goodyear is headquartered."They identified with us astheir brothers and sisters in the fight tohold onto the middle class and anAmerica that takes care of one another."The USW and Goodyear, the world'sthird-largest tire maker, reached a tentativethree-year agreement on Dec. 22 to end thestrike that began Oct. 5 over issues includingretirement, security and jobs.USW members returned to work justafter the New Year, and temporaryreplacement workers — jeered as scabsfrom the picket lines — were sent packing.In some places, strikers waved mockpink slips and Donald Trump "You'reFired!" signs as the replacementspunched out for the last time.Picket lines remained strong. In theend, less than 3 percent of USW memberslistened to Goodyear's pleas andcrossed, despite the extraordinary financialpressures that they and their familiesfaced.Members like James Merriner, Jr.,who had 32 years of service at a rubberproducts plant in Marysville, Ohio,protested Goodyear at a NASCAR eventin New York and marched the picketlines at his own plant and in Akron,where his father, James Sr., retired after40 years of service. Father and son tooktime to picket together.The senior Merriner was concernedand bewildered by Goodyear's attack onretirement benefits and was worried thathe could not afford changes on a fixedincome.Photo by James Hamrick.USW@Work • winter 2007 9
Page 3 and 4: Speaking OutUSW active and retired
Page 5 and 6: "George did as much as any presiden
Page 7: In those early years, Mr. Beckerhir
Page 11 and 12: GOODYEAR CONTRACTThe contract campa
Page 13 and 14: GOODYEAR CONTRACTAP Photo/Tyler Mor
Page 15 and 16: The USW will also have a voice on t
Page 17 and 18: Training Funds DropTraining workers
Page 19: promised that passage will be an ob
Page 23 and 24: • Restoration of health care bene
Page 25 and 26: A159-year-old copper producerfounde
Page 27 and 28: Mr. Kleiman, 78, died unexpectedlyo
Page 29 and 30: a new facility outside of Wisconsin
Page 31 and 32: usted shell. The explosion was felt
Page 33 and 34: An independent review panel ledby f
Page 35 and 36: arilyn Brownsectors in Liberia,part
Page 37 and 38: Holly Hart Appointed USW's Chief Lo
Page 39 and 40: CAPITOL LETTERSCAPITOL LETTERSThe i

USW@Work - National College Players Association - United ...

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