Goodyear workers back on jobs today

AKRON, Ohio — The contract has been approved, the picket lines and fire barrels taken down, but some hard feelings remain among Goodyear Tire & Rubber workers who will return to work today after a three-month strike that at times got ugly.

"Personally, I feel there's going to be a hard line drawn between management and associates," said Dan Levin, 43, who has worked at the Sun Prairie, Wis., plant for 12 years. "Talk to me about my line. Talk to me about my work. Small talk? Forget about it. There's going to be a division, like the China wall."

Workers at 12 plants in 10 states ended their strike Friday by approving a three-year agreement covering 14,000 employees. The contract, which includes plans to close a Texas tire factory and creates a $1 billion health-care fund for retirees, was approved by the overall membership by a 2-1 ratio.

Before the strike, relations between workers and management at the plant were good, Levin said, adding it will take a while to mend the wounds.

The company said the pact will help reduce its costs by $610 million over three years and $300 million a year thereafter.

"What we expect is that both Goodyear and its workers now get back to being one team," Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey said. "The focus is on serving the customer and beating the competition."

Some members of the United Steelworkers were optimistic about rebuilding their relationship with company management.

"Overall when we get back in there, they're going to be happy for us to get in there," said John Rutherford, president of USW Local 843L in Marysville, Ohio. "I don't think they're going to be overbearing and slapping us back into shape. We're looking forward to getting back into the routine."

Goodyear agreed to put $1 billion into a health-care fund for retired union workers' medical benefits, higher than the company's previous $660 million offer but less than the union's call for roughly double that amount.

Dave Prentice, a worker on temporary assignment with USW Local 2L in Akron, anticipated a long healing process.

"There were a lot of wounds inflicted and people are going to have to heal and get back into the business of producing a quality product," he said.

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.