The following December 21 statement was published by the Vice Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and was translated by Fight Back! staff.

Valencia, Venezuela – This Friday, the workers of tire manufacturing company Goodyear occupied their plant in Carabobo state, in compliance with Article 149 of the Organic Labor Law for Workers, after the transnational illegally closed its operations in the city of Valencia on December 10.

The act occurred with an assembly of workers joined by Eduardo Piñate, Minister for the Social Process of Labor, who reiterated the backing and support of the national government for the working masses in order to restart production at this company.

“We have realized the formal application of Article 149 of the Organic Labor Law which deals with the occupation of businesses by the working class, while we at the Ministry of Law, according to the law, endorse this process of occupation taken on by the workers,” the official explained.

Minister Piñate announced that in the coming days an administrative team will be named for the plant, which will be made up of representatives of both the workers and the management – if they decide to join – along with the Ministry.

“We have total confidence in the Venezuelan working class, the working class of Goodyear, those who will put this plant into operation and advance the production of the country, so that the Venezuelan people can have sufficient rubber to continue repairing the automotive fleet,” he expressed.

Goodyear ended its operations at its only plant in Venezuela, located in the city of Valencia, on December 10. The only notice that it gave its 1200 workers was a notice placed at the security gate of the plant, which the workers found when they arrived for work that day.

#Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #Goodyear #Americas

Hoover, AL – In solidarity with the over 15,000 Goodyear Tire and Rubber workers who have been on strike since Oct. 5, demonstrations were held on Dec. 2 at Goodyear retail stores across the country. In Birmingham, over 100 workers and their supporters rallied at the retail store, while in Hoover, Alabama, a similar rally was held to protest the company’s unfair contract proposals, as well as to warn consumers of the risk involved in buying tires manufactured by strikebreakers.

Leaflets distributed to potential customers explain the findings of a recent study that linked defective tires to labor strife. For instance, the 2000 Firestone/Ford recall of defective tires, which killed over 270 people, was the result of the company’s use of unskilled scabs at a striking plant in Decatur, Alabama.

At the Hoover rally, unions from all over the country and from different manufacturing sectors were present, all demanding that Goodyear uphold its promises. “This is a combination of lots of unions – communications, steel – all pulling together to support each other for a great cause,” said Vickie Grace, member of the Communications Workers of America Local 3902 in Birmingham. “Goodyear is not living up to its promises. We want a change, and we want it now. These are hardworking employees and they don't deserve it.”

The Goodyear company is attempting to go back on its health care contract for retirees. Despite concessions the United Steelworkers union accepted in 2003 and record profits for the company and its CEO in 2005, Goodyear announced plans in 2006 to close plants and gut retiree benefits.

“Corporate America has chosen Goodyear to set a precedent for how companies will handle retiree benefits in the future,” explained Tommy Mayfield of Mobile, member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. “It’s not right for them to take retiree health benefits away that have been paid for over the years. The working class is tired of being treated like dogs.”

The U.S. Army, facing a shortage of tires for Humvees used in Iraq, threatened to intervene and break the strike at the Kansas plant.

[Editors note: On Dec. 29, it was announced that a tentative agreement between striking members of the United Steel Workers and Goodyear was ratified, bringing the courageous three-month strike to an end. On the upside, rubber workers were able to get Goodyear to up their offer for funding retiree health care. On the downside, a major plant in Tyler, Texas can be closed in 2008.]

#HooverAL #News #UnitedSteelWorkersOfAmerica #SouthernLaborMovement #Goodyear

Gadsden, AL – Despite the heavy rains and the passing weeks, workers at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant here are holding the picket line, demanding job security and better health and insurance benefits. All 1250 workers at the Gadsden plant have been on strike since Oct. 5, leaving the plant idle and plant supervisors scrambling to make tires on their own. The United Steelworkers of America, who organized the strike, represents eleven other plants in America and two in Canada, a total of 15,000 workers, all of whom are participating in the strike.

Goodyear shut down a plant in Huntsville, Alabama in 2003 and recently revealed plans to shut down two more and move production overseas. Workers are fighting to keep the plant open, and to hold on to their health and insurance benefits, which are continually under attack, despite the fact that the company’s profit has increased in the past two years. Retirees draw less than $700 a month, yet pay $600 a month for insurance. “It’s not right, nothing’s right about it,” said Rickey Ramey, a tire builder with the plant for over 31 years, shaking his head, showing his hands crippled from years of hard work. “We accepted concessions, bailed the plant out in ’97, made them millions of dollars with our hands and our backs. Now they want to take it all away.”

The Goodyear plant in Gadsden has been operating since the 1930s and has a history of struggle; workers struck several times in the 1970s, for over four months in 1976 and again in 1997. The majority of citizens in Gadsden have either worked for or have family who has worked for Goodyear, and support the workers’ struggle. “The community is behind us 110 percent,” said Dennis Battles, president of the United Steelworkers Local 12. “Every time you look up, they are bringing food to the picket line, donating money. It really gets to you sometimes, makes you want to sit down and bawl.”

Battles is waiting for the call to restart negotiations. Until then, the workers plan on striking for as long as it takes, fully aware that without them, the Goodyear plant cannot operate. “Already, Goodyear’s credit report has been demoted from A to B; they’re paying $1.2 million of interest a day. I can see the bosses laughing, thinking, ‘Oh these peons are going to make us some money!’ But if the plant goes bankrupt, the CEO makes zero!” explained Ramey.

Rickey Williams, a maintenance mechanic, agrees that the benefit cuts are unacceptable, that compromise is no longer an option. “The CEO makes $7,700,000 and just got a $3 million bonus,” said Williams, soaked from picketing for hours in the rain. “We don’t want more concessions – the more we give them the more they want. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; they’re trying to get rid of the middle class. The past two years Goodyear has turned a profit, but they still want more. We have really got to stop that somewhere.”

#GadsdenAL #GadsenAL #SouthernLaborMovement #Goodyear #UnitedSteelworkersOfAmerica