Bridgestone union agrees on tentative contract

The union said it wanted to brief its members on the agreement reached Tuesday night and did not disclose terms of the deal in a news release.

“The tentative agreement and contract proposals follow the pattern established in the BF Goodrich and Goodyear contracts,” said USW executive vice president Ron Hoover of the union’s Rubber and Plastic Industry Conference.

The union said that workers at the six plants will vote on the contracts April 25. If the contracts are approved, they will expire on July 18, 2009.

The plants include Akron, Ohio; Noblesville, Ind.; Des Moines, Iowa; Russellville, Ark.; La Vergne, Tenn., and Oklahoma City.

Workers at the Warren County, Tenn., and Bloomington, Ill., plants are considering individual contract offers that cover workers there.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. workers at 12 plants in 10 states ended a three-month strike in December by approving a three-year agreement covering 14,000 employees. The deal included plans to close a Texas tire factory and creates a $1 billion health care fund for retirees.

Goodyear said the pact will help reduce its costs by $610 million over three years and $300 million a year thereafter.

After Goodyear settled its contract with USW, Bridgestone went back to negotiating with the union in January, according to Bridgestone spokesman Dan MacDonald.

Goodyear is third among the world’s biggest tiremakers after Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. and France’s Group Michelin.

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp., is based in Nashville, Tenn.