The United Steelworkers union strike of 15 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plants is over. The Steelworkers and Goodyear reached an agreement on Dec. 29, 2006 after returning to the negotiating table on Dec. 18.
The company only returned to the table after receiving significant pressure from the union and supporters. On Dec. 16,
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After three months on picket lines, the 14,000 striking workers returned to their jobs on Jan 2, 2007.
The strike began Oct. 5, 2006 when the Goodyear presented the union with an unacceptable contract proposal. Even though Goodyear CEO Robert Keegan and four other executives made over $2 million each in bonuses last year, the contract proposal included wage cuts, a two-tier pension plan, and plant closures in Gadsden, Ala., and Tyler, Texas. This would have meant the layoff of more than 2,000 workers.
The new contract gives deep concessions to the company, but there are a few bright spots for the union. It protects union jobs and funds much-needed benefits for retired workers—none of which would have been possible without the strike. Most importantly, the strike sent a clear signal that the bosses’ arrogance could be met by the strength of a determined union membership.
The contract was approved by every striking union local and by the affected overall membership by a two-to-one margin.
Specifically, the new contract prevents the closure of the Gadsen plant and puts $1 billion into health care fund for retired workers. The $1 billion figure is significantly larger than the $660 million proposed by Goodyear.
Unfortunately, under the deal, the plant in Tyler is still slated for closure. But it will be delayed for six months and the 1,100 workers at the plant will be eligible for a buyout of up to $40,000 plus two years of guaranteed health benefits.
The new contract states that before Goodyear can close the Tyler plant, it must close a nonunion plant. This means that two plants will close. The workers at this nonunion plant probably will be left without any severance packages.
The new contract creates a two-tier wage system for incoming workers. The new wage range will be $13 to $24 per hour. Current workers will have their wages protected, but new workers will start at lower wages. There were no wage increases in the contract, only cost of living increases for hourly workers.
But the union staved off the worst, even in the face of government pressure. Goodyear produces tires for military vehicles, in particular the M998 HUMMWV, commonly called Humvees, which are used in the U.S. occupation of Iraq. As a result of the strike, the production of Goodyear tires for Humvees fell to nearly half of the U.S. Army’s need of 20,000 tires a month.
The House Armed Services Committee pushed Goodyear and the Steelworkers to come to a partial agreement to allow 200 workers at the Topeka, Kan., plant to return to work during the strike. When this did not happen, the government considered forcing the workers back into the plant under the old contract. Never did the government tell Goodyear to meet the union’s demands.
As soon as the news broke that the strike was settled, Goodyear stock prices hit the highest level in a year, closing at $20.99 on the New York Stock Exchange. But this does not remedy the losses it took during the strike. Goodyear lost approximately $35 million each week in November. According to the Steelworkers, this is a conservative estimate.
Fighting the capitalists
The outcome of the Steelworkers’ strike battle with Goodyear does not diminish the importance of unions. In fact, unions are more important now than they ever have been. Workers need a strong voice in the workplace. A fighting union can provide that.
A contract struggle, while being in some ways the most basic form of class struggle, is not a revolutionary struggle. It is a struggle for the terms of labor’s exploitation—not over the abolition of labor’s exploitation. In this sense, the real struggle is over how to achieve the best possible terms in a given context within a given relationship of class forces.
Within this balance of forces, the working class is always at a disadvantage. In the case of the Steelworkers strike, the union was facing off not just against some corporation. It was facing the capitalist class and the weight of the state.
Under capitalism, this is the inevitable battleground. Whatever gains can be made in a given situation carry a cost.
Without the Steelworkers union, Goodyear could have steamrolled over the workforce, forcing all of its anti-worker demands on them. Without the union, Goodyear’s original offer would have been far worse than it actually was. And myriad daily abuses would go unchecked and unabated.
In a society where the government and the media favors the wealthy owners, workers must come together in solidarity and fight the capitalists to maintain current benefits and achieve any gains. Having a fighting union is necessary to combat the day-to-day assault on workers by the greedy capitalist class.
