Strikers to Goodyear: Stop ‘picking us to the bone’

Ghosts, witches and skeletons, even tombstones—these are a common sight this time of year. Outside the last existing Goodyear plant in Akron, however, their purpose is not to greet the hungry trick-or-treaters. On strike since Oct. 5, members of United Steel Workers of America (USWA) Local 2L have put up a skeleton with a sign accusing Goodyear of “picking us to the bone.”

Their numbers are down, but the spirit of Goodyear workers is up. WW photo: Martha Grevatt

At another entrance the pickets have erected tombstones with names of cities—Akron, Buffalo, Gadsden, Lincoln, Union City—that have been dying as plants manufacturing rubber and other goods are closed.

Altogether about 15,000 USWA members are striking at 16 plants in the U.S. and Canada. Key issues include Goodyear’s plans to close two entire plants and eliminate 5,000 jobs, threats to the pensions of current and future retirees, and a five-tier pay scale that would employ new hires for 40 percent less than that paid current employees, who may also face a pay cut.

At one time the rubber industry dominated the Akron landscape, employing over 50,000 workers—12,000 at Goodyear alone. Like the steel and auto unions, the United Rubber Workers waged fierce battles to win recognition from the likes of Goodyear, Firestone and B.F. Goodrich. These battles, which made Akron a union town, became part of the rich labor history of Northeast Ohio.

It is a history that is not forgotten. When asked if there was 100 percent support in the community, a striker replied, with total seriousness, “Well, I think it’s more like 99.9 percent. There is one guy who keeps driving by and telling us to get a job.”

International solidarity is already a factor also. Fred Higgs, secretary general of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Unions (based in Brussels) called on “trade unions in the rubber industry—and particularly Goodyear plants in Central and South America—to monitor inventories and production to ensure that they are not undermining the USWA’s strike action.”

The fight for job security is indeed critical.

Now the rubber industry is almost all gone—it truly is running with a skeleton crew. The rubber workers union was so reduced in number, it chose to merge with the Steelworkers. The only Goodyear tire plant left here employs less than 500 people, who make specialized tires for NASCAR stock car races. Future NASCAR races, which are enormously popular in the U.S., could be jeopardized if the strike goes on.

“I’ve been saving for this day since 1976,” one striker told this reporter, referring to the 146-day strike that won a cost of living adjustment. “He [the Goodyear CEO] has to borrow a billion dollars.” Days earlier Goodyear took out loans for almost that amount, specifically to weather the effects of the strike.

Their numbers may be diminished, but the spirit of Goodyear workers is as strong as it was 30 years ago.