Solidarity At Continental Tire

Our Story

Until recently Continental Tire of North America (CTNA), a subsidiary of the German firm and maker of Continental and General Tires, operated four major tire manufacturing facilities in the United States. Workers at the company’s three union facilities in Mayfield, KY (Local 665), Charlotte, NC (Local 850), and Bryan, Ohio (Local 890) are represented by the United Steelworkers (USW). The other facility in Mount Vernon, IL is non-union.

Mayfield, KY

In 2003, CTNA executed a careful strategy to escape contractual obligations to its USW-represented workers. First it demanded $35 million in concessions from workers at its Mayfield plant, a figure which amounts to roughly $35,000 per employee per year.

Several months later it announced the total elimination of tire production. Then, the company began a four-phase shutdown of the Mayfield plant laying off most its 1,300 unionized workers. For just over two years, the Mayfield plant continued to operate with a skeleton crew of 130 workers mixing just enough rubber to avoid paying contractually required plant closing benefits. In August 2006, the company announced that Mayfield would shut down permanently—effective February 1, 2007.

Charlotte, NC

In Charlotte, CTNA opened contract negotiations by revisiting its Mayfield strategy and demanding $32 million in labor cost reductions in order to keep the facility open. Although the company refused to explain why it needed the cuts, the Steelworkers remained committed to negotiating an agreement that would be fair for the employees and maintain tire production. The USW offered major contract concessions that would save the company millions and dramatically improve operations. All the USW proposals were flat out rejected by CTNA.

When the contract expired on May 1, 2006, according to allegations by U.S. labor law authorities, Continental Tire illegally implemented new cuts in wages, benefits and working conditions it said were essential to continued operations. Then, -- barely a week later, CTNA announced its intention to “indefinitely suspend” tire production on July 7, 2006. Like in Mayfield, the company laid off a 1,000 workers in stages and is keeping a skeleton crew at the plant and avoiding paying plant shutdown benefits.

Bryan, OH

Fortunately, the jobs and productivity at the Bryan, Ohio plant were salvaged when the USW helped to facilitate Titan Tire's purchase of that facility. Titan purchased the Bryan plant in August 2006 to help it expand its presence in the North American farm and off-road tire market.

Mt. Vernon, IL At its non-union plant in Mount Vernon, Illinois, the company has also dramatically cut wages and benefits for the first time. CTNA actively opposed the Mt. Vernon workers becoming members of the USW in previous organizing attempts. Once the threat of unionization of the plant was removed, the company implemented its program of Draconian cuts there, too.

In July of 2006, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed complaints against CTNA for major violations of federal labor law in North Carolina. Included are charges that CTNA illegally relocated the production of the Charlotte plant by refusing to provide the union with sufficient information to engage in meaningful bargaining, wrongly declaring an impasse in negotiations and unlawfully implementing new terms and conditions of employment. That trial has been indefinitely postponed.

Leaving Retirees Behind As Well

Accumulated published epidemiologic and medical literature indicates the workers in the rubber industry suffer excess mortatility rates from various types of cancer and from heart disease. The cancers for which there is best evidence include leukemia, lung cancer, bladder cancer and cancer of the larynx. A number of other cancers have been found in excess in some studies, but less consistently. Some of these mortality risks occur to some, but not all, groups of rubber workers. These conclusions are based on many epidemiologic studies that have been performed in numerous countries over the past 30 years.

On January 1, 2007, for all its Charlotte retirees, Continental plans to impose a massive reduction in its payments for retiree health care. This will force hundreds of retirees to choose between poverty and health care coverage. Many long-time retirees will be forced to utilize three-fourths or more of their pensions just to pay for health care. Most retirees may find it nearly impossible to find another affordable health care provider due to existing medical ailments, a common result of decades of toxic exposure associated with tire manufacturing. The bottom line is that U.S. taxpayers will be forced to cover those retirees who are forced to drop health insurance due to Continental Tire’s callous actions.

In December of 2006, the USW filed a class action lawsuit against Continental Tire to force the company to uphold its obligations to thousands of retirees, spouses, and surviving spouses to provide retiree medical benefits throughout retirement. Read the text of the complaint here.

Timeline of Deception:

• 2003- In the midst of a contract, CTNA demands $35 million in labor cost reductions at the Mayfield, KY facility.

• June 30, 2004- CTNA announces that it is indefinitely ceasing tire production in Mayfield, KY.

• September 1, 2004- Layoffs begin in Mayfield as the company stops tire production.

• March 22, 2006- CTNA disrupts negotiations in Charlotte by announcing that it may alter healthcare benefits for retirees.

• April 30, 2006- CTNA illegally walks away from the bargaining table in Charlotte, implementing its “last, best and final offer.”

• May 10, 2006- After illegally implementing its slash and burn contract, CTNA announces that it would be ceasing production in Charlotte.

• July 5, 2006- NLRB issues complaint against CTNA

• July 7, 2006- CTNA ceases tire production at Charlotte

• August 2, 2006- CTNA tells the USW that it will shut down the Mayfield, KY facility by February 1, 2007