USW Workers at Bridgestone-LaVergne Giving Back to the Community, Too - Friday, March 12, 2010

USW News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lou Patterson (615) 415-2811
March 8, 2010

USW Workers at Bridgestone-LaVergne Giving Back to the Community,

Concessionary Contract Keeps Plant Open and Money Flowing

(LaVergne) – Much notice has been given to Bridgestone Tires’ recent acquisition of naming rights to the Nashville Arena, which will be celebrated in a Wednesday, March 10, 2010 ceremony. It is cited as the most recent example of Bridgestone’s good corporate neighbor behavior.

Many United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1055 members, especially some of the 600 laid off last summer when the plant stopped producing passenger tires, are angry when they hear that the company is spending millions on public relations, marketing and advertising while workers are losing jobs and taking pay cuts.

USW Local 1055 members would like to point out that they are contributing to the company and the community at a rate of $7.2 million per year, or nearly $30 million over four years, through concessions that the company said were necessary to improve the plant’s global competitiveness.

This amount includes a $2.50 wage reduction across the board, employees giving up one week of vacation pay for unpaid leave, doubled employee contributions to insurance premiums for active and retirees alike and introduced mandatory overtime in negotiations last November that will keep the LaVergne facility open until 2013.

Yes, this agreement provides job security for some 500 workers, but it also helps keep suppliers, local merchants and other service providers working as the plant keeps churning out products and union members keep spending their checks in the local community.

“With the economy struggling, it was better to make sacrifices and keep the plant open,” said Lou Patterson, USW Local 1055 president. “Our objective is to keep working hard and wait for the economy to get back on track.”

“Unfortunately, that’s the nature of business,” said Patterson. “Companies have to spend money to get people to buy their products.

“Hopefully Bridgestone’s strategy will be so successful that they’ll have to start building passenger tires in LaVergne again. It would be great to bring back hundreds of jobs to the community.”

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USW Workers at Bridgestone-LaVergne Giving Back to the Community, Too - Friday, March 12, 2010