Goodyear offers Steelworkers board seat

AKRON (Sept. 2)—The United Steelworkers of America will have a seat on the Goodyear board of directors if a proposed labor agreement is approved by the Steelworkers members. This would mark the first time a major tire and rubber company in the U.S. has added a union representative to its board. The contract—being considered by more than 20,000 workers at 14 Goodyear, Kelly-Springfield and Dunlop tire plants in North America—also offers provisions against "runaway executive salaries" and "bloated management forces." Of the 14 plants covered in the agreement, 12 are considered protected, meaning they wouldn´t be closed during the three-year term of the agreement and staffing would be maintained at at least 85 percent of that currently, the offer states. The Goodyear Dunlop Tires plant in Huntsville, Ala., already has been notified it will be closed before the end of the year. The Kelly plant in Tyler, Texas, is listed as "partial protected," meaning it will have to meet certain, unspecified goals to achieve protected status.