USW members used their strength and solidarity to bargain a series of strong agreements with employers large and small.
USW members who work in the tire, rubber and plastics industries faced down numerous challenges over the past three years, including pressures from anti-union employers, unfairly traded products from overseas competitors, and consolidation in the North American tire industry.
Despite those challenges, USW members used their strength and solidarity to bargain a series of strong agreements with employers large and small, ensuring a prosperous and productive future for tens of thousands of union rubber workers.
The major sector-wide gains since the last convention included the eradication of oppressive two-tier wage structures at various employers—a change that helps to build plant-wide unity while benefiting newer and younger workers financially.
The USW’s Rubber and Plastics Industry Conference (R/PIC) includes members who make vehicle tires, inner tubes, hoses and belts, gaskets, packing and sealing devices, containers and other consumer and commercial products. They work for companies such as Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Bridgestone/Firestone, Cooper, Kumho, ContiTech, Titan, Poly-Seal, Uniroyal, Yokohama and others.
“the major sector -wide gains since the last convention included the eradication of oppressive two-tier wage structures at various employers.”
Bridgestone
Members at six Bridgestone locations voted in August 2022 to ratify a new master contract that eliminated the two-tier wage system there.
The four-year agreement also included regular wage increases, maintained cost-of-living adjustments, provided lump-sum payments, improved retirement options, eliminated two-tier wage systems, and preserved access to quality, affordable health insurance plans for all members.
In addition, it paved the way for recently hired and newer workers to accrue vacation and progress through the wage scales more quickly. These changes will not only benefit members but help the employers retain more workers.
In all, the contract covers about 4,000 members of Local 310L in Des Moines, Iowa; Local 7L in Akron, Ohio; Local 787L in Bloomington, Ill.; Local 884L in Russellville, Ark.; Local 1055L in La Vergne, Tenn.; and Local 1155L in Warren County, Tenn. The La Vergne plant is slated for closure.
Cooper Tire and Rubber
Members of Local 752L voted overwhelmingly in June 2024 to ratify a four-year contract at Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. in Texarkana, Ark. The new contract, covering about 1,500 workers, included annual wage increases, lump-sum payments, safety upgrades and benefit enhancements.
Local 752L members ratified the union’s previous agreement with Cooper in 2019 and extended that agreement for one year in 2023.
Their counterparts at Local 207L in Findlay, Ohio, also ratified their own four-year contract in June 2024 with annual wage increases, bonuses, enhanced retirement benefits and other language improvements.
Goodyear purchased Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper in 2021.
Goodyear
After threatening an unfair labor practice strike, about 6,000 members ratified a four-year master contract with Goodyear in August 2022.
The agreement covers members at Local 2L in Akron, Ohio; Local 307L in Topeka, Kansas, Local 831L in Danville, N.C., and Local 959L in Fayetteville, N.C.
While Goodyear initially came to the bargaining table demanding concessions, members responded with the steadfast solidarity and a strike authorization vote that ultimately proved pivotal to winning a fair agreement.
The contract included annual wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments and improvements to members’ health care and retirement benefits. It also addressed gaps in pay and benefits that were part of a two-tier system.
Kumho
After a historic organizing campaign and three long years of bargaining, workers at Kumho Tire voted in August 2023 to ratify a groundbreaking first contract.
The four-year agreement included annual wage increases as well as essential workplace protections such as the establishment of a joint health and safety committee. The agreement also ensured quality health care and other benefits.
In voting to join the USW, the members at Kumho became the first new tire workers to unionize in more than four decades. The significance of the victory extended beyond the Kumho plant, serving as an inspiration for other workers long exploited by employers and the South’s anti-labor Republican officials.
Michelin-BFGoodrich
About 1,800 members at Michelin-BFGoodrich factories in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Fort Wayne, Ind., ratified a three-year contract in August 2022.
The workers achieved regular wage increases, retirement plan improvements, and continued quality, affordable health care.
Yokohama
Despite the company’s demands for nearly 120 concessions, unwavering solidarity enabled 500 members of Local 1023 to achieve a strong contract with Yokohama Tire in Salem, Va.
Yokohama’s proposals to gut benefits, contract language and job protections stood to hurt every member and retiree.
Instead, the local fought back and won a four-year agreement in September 2022 that eliminated the two-tier wage system and maintained cost-of-living increases. It also provided improvements to pension funding, life insurance, vacation and other benefits.
