Steelworkers at Bridgestone/Firestone plants ratify new contracts

PITTSBURGH (Sept. 25)—About 8,000 United Steelworkers of America members at nine Bridgestone/Firestone manufacturing facilities have new three-year pacts with the company, as the union completed the ratification process Sept. 20. The master agreementÏcovering workers at seven plantsÏwas approved by about a 4-1 margin, the union said. Separate agreements at the company´s Bloomington, Ill., and Warren County, Tenn., facilities passed by overwhelming margins as well. The pacts are retroactive to April 23, when the master contract lapsed, and run through April 23, 2003. The deals give the Steelworkers gains in wages, pension, health care and retirement benefits, plus successfully set a bargaining pattern for the rest of the tire industry, the union said.