Goodyear, striking Steelworkers to begin talks

VALLEYFIELD, Quebec (June 8)—Negotiators for Goodyear Canada Inc. and United Steelworkers Local 919 plan to meet June 12, the first bargaining session between the sides since the union went on strike April 27. Local 919, which comprises the bulk of the company´s technical and office staff at the Valleyfield radial passenger tire plant, struck over financial, job security and seniority issues. The 76-member local had been working without a contract since July 1996, when its previous three-year pact expired. The union was fighting the company within Quebec´s labor department during that span over Goodyear´s alleged exclusion of certain jobs from unionization.