Local at Goodyear chemical plant rejects contract

HOUSTON (Nov. 10)—Employees at Goodyear´s chemical plant rejected a three-year contract offer Nov. 7 by a 2-to-1 margin. About 350 members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 347 went on strike Oct. 10 after rejecting Goodyear´s first contract offer. The company´s new proposal includes contracting out 168 jobs and across-the-board pay cuts. Goodyear wanted to contract out about 138 jobs that the company considers "non-essential," in hopes of trying to bounce back from a $15 million loss this year and prevent a $25 million loss next year. Goodyear´s latest proposal calls for even more layoffs where work would be phased out over a two-year period. Employee wages also would automatically drop about 33 percent. Operators at the plant would face additional pay cuts of about $5 an hour and workers would have to pay $10 a month for health insurance, which they previously had received for free.