Steelworkers approve contract with Bridgestone/Firestone
BY SIMONE BERG
DES MOINES, Iowa--As Bridgestone/ Firestone's woes continue to mount due to a massive tire recall, union members ratified a new contract September 15, with ballots cast at six of seven plants. The vote here was 646 in favor and 183 against. According to one local union official, the contract carried by a similar margin everywhere except Russellville, Arkansas where it was voted down.
The contract with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) expires in April, 2003. It establishes a common expiration date for all nine local unions, including two that are not now under the master agreement. Other plants covered by this agreement are in Akron, Ohio; Decatur, Illinois; LaVergne, Tennessee; Noblesville, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Plants in Bloomington, Illinois, and Warren County, Tennessee, are not.
The new contract provides a wage increase of 65 cents an hour over the life of the contract and $1.50 an hour raise for warehouse workers. A Performance Based Pay was eliminated in favor of reinstituting a full Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA), which is rolled into hourly wages. This is estimated to be $1.36 per hour over the life of the contract. The starting wage is now $10.50 per hour. The contract will also increase pension benefits from $34 to $50 per year worked and provides a special early retirement at age 55, or after 30 years of service.
A couple of the major points of discontentment around the contract negotiations were seniority in bidding and the absentee policy. The new contract will make a minor improvement in seniority bidding, requiring the company to post initial job openings long enough so that every shift will see them.
An advance in the attendance program was also won, changing from three absences in six months to five absences in nine months before a worker is placed on "the program," as it is commonly referred to.
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