BY JOHANNA RYAN AND MEG NOVAK

PEORIA - On November 6, the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced a tentative agreement in a labor dispute that has been ongoing since workers walked off the job and set up picket lines in July 1994.

Workers employed by Bridgestone/ Firestone, one of the largest tire-producing companies in the world, were originally organized by the United Rubber Workers (URW) when they began the strike. During the strike, the company said it would permanently replace 2,300 of the 4,200 strikers. In May 1996, the URW officialdom ordered the striking workers to make "an unconditional offer to return to work." The company accepted the offer with the condition that they be able to call workers back one by one, as openings occurred. Workers returning to the plants had their wages slashed from an average of $17 an hour to an average of $12 an hour.

The URW was then merged into the USWA in June, 1996. Since that time, the union tops had focused on a consumer boycott of Bridgestone/Firestone tires as its main strategy for gaining a new contract.

With both sides claiming victory, and the USWA officialdom touting this as a victory won by using boycott tactics, the agreement leaves much to be desired for workers inside the plants where it will be implemented if approved by the union membership. Some of the biggest concessions of the company are the implementation of a seven-day, round-the-clock 12-hour rotating shift schedule, and the introduction of a two-tier wage scale that would start new hires at 70 percent of the base pay of veteran employees. It would take these workers three years to reach 100 percent pay.

Under the new pact, workers will receive an immediate pay increase of 40 cents per hour and the elimination of health- care premiums. The company will also grant "amnesty" for more than 40 employees discharged for strike-related activity. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that four to 15 workers who were fired for strike related activity are not being rehired.

George Becker, president of the USWA, commented on the settlement, "We're interested in Bridgestone/Firestone being a prosperous company, because the more they make, the more they can share."

He added that he hopes the agreement will set the pattern for future negotiations in the tire industry, including talks with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., whose contract expires in April.

Despite these claims of victory by the USWA officials, the Wall Street Journal on November 7 characterized the union's agreement to 12-hour shifts as "a key victory" for the company. The settlement will be voted on by mail in December.

Meg Novak and Johanna Ryan are members of USWA Local 787 at Bridgestone/Firestone in Bloomington, Illinois.  
 
 
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