A proposed agreement between United Steelworkers and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. would protect the Danville plant against closure, according to a union news release.
About 10,300 members at seven plants across the country will vote on the four-year labor agreement by Sept. 18. The United Steelworkers Local 831 union in Danville plans to vote on the new master contract agreement Thursday, according to the group’s Web site.
To take effect, the contract must be approved by a majority of members and plants.
The agreement requires Goodyear to invest a minimum of $600 million in capital expenditures like “state-of-the-art equipment,” and to maintain minimum staffing levels, the union news release stated.
“Our priorities were to protect our plants and our jobs while maintaining good, affordable health care in a difficult economic climate,” Tom Conway, USW international vice president, said via the release. “This contract achieved these goals in addition to making some other needed improvements such as securing resources the union can defer to assist our retirees.”
Goodyear was pleased to reach an agreement that accomplishes the company’s goals and helps secure the future for its U.S. factories, Jim Allen, chief negotiator for the company, said via news release.
The previous three-year labor agreement expired July 18. The contract was extended twice before a tentative settlement was reached on Aug. 29.
Goodyear is Danville’s largest private employer.
“Everybody knows Goodyear is our major employer,” Danville City Manager M. Lyle Lacy III said about the news. “They provide a super payroll and a world-class product and we want them to be successful both from an employee and company standpoint.”
In June 2008, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Goodyear announced a modernization project for the Danville plant, where the company would invest $200 million over several years to improve its technology. City leaders saw the project as part of the company’s continued investment in the local plant.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership had worked with the city to secure the project, where Kaine approved $3 million in performance-based grants from the Virginia Investment Partnership program. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $1.6 million in funding for that project.
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