CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 1) — Continental Tire North America Inc. declared an impasse in its negotiations with union members at its Charlotte tire plant and said it would implement certain provisions of its final proposal beginning today.
The company and United Steelworkers Local 850 met for 12 hours April 30. Conti presented its ninth proposal — all of which totaled $32 million in annual cuts — to the union on April 25. The union presented its latest counterproposal April 30 and the company claimed it fell "significantly short" of what is needed to make the Charlotte factory cost-competitive.
"We are disappointed that the union would not work with us to reduce costs and that we were unable to reach an agreement," said Rick Ledsinger, Conti vice president of human resources and chief negotiator. "However, we´ve run out of time, and at this point we have no choice but to move forward with our North American restructuring plan to get CTNA back to profitability."
The USW held a large solidarity rally April 29. Its members have authorized a strike, but as of yet the union´s leaders have not called one, calling that a last resort.