Joining ranks to save jobs at Goodyear

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Lincoln may not be a typical union town, but there’s discernible solidarity in the community with the Goodyear workers who went out on strike Thursday.

The workers are just trying to protect their jobs in the uncertainty of a global economy.

People recognize that this isn’t a power play for higher wages or improved benefits.

The strike is intended to pressure Goodyear to keep open its plants in Tyler, Texas, and Gadsden, Ala.

Strictly speaking, most of the Goodyear jobs in Lincoln are not at stake. Under an existing agreement, Goodyear has guaranteed 325 jobs at the Lincoln plant through July 2009.

But certainly people at the Lincoln plant and elsewhere in North America feel threatened by long-term trends. If Goodyear closes its plants in Texas and Alabama, which of the remaining North American plants might be next?

Union negotiators are in a tough situation. Goodyear has plants all over the world, from such low-wage countries as Mexico, Thailand, China, India and the Philippines to the industrialized European countries of France, Germany and Belgium.

That means tires, hoses and other Goodyear products are still being produced at other plants even though 15,000 workers are striking at 12 plants in the United States and four in Canada.

Investors don’t seem alarmed by the strike at all. Since workers walked off the job the price of Goodyear stock actually has risen.

Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache told Bloomberg.com that Goodyear would not be hurt by the strike unless it can’t fill orders and begins to lose market share. He also noted that the global giant has about $1.8 billion in cash.

Analyst Sean Egan told Bloomberg that the Steelworkers union has lost leverage over the past decade because of “improvements in infrastructure and transportation that allows the company to ship in cheaper tires produced elsewhere.”

Over the decades, Lincoln has benefited economically from the presence of the Goodyear plant and the relatively generous wage and benefit packages negotiated by union workers.

Decades ago, when the local plant employed 2,000 workers, its economic role in Lincoln was more dominant. Today Lincoln’s economy is much larger, and employment at the plant has dropped to about 560.

But the Goodyear plant and its multimillion-dollar payroll are still vitally important to the local economy. There’s no doubt that the community hopes the dispute can be settled quickly with additional job security for the Goodyear employers in Lincoln.