The Steelworkers union reported progress in contract talks with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co as both sides negotiated into the evening with a midnight Saturday deadline looming.
Wayne Ranick, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers of America, said on Saturday that the talks were progressing in Cincinnati, where negotiations have been under way since June.
The contract was to expire at midnight for about 10,300 employees at seven plants in Ohio, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Kansas and Tennessee. The expiration deadline has been extended twice.
Goodyear, the biggest US-based tire-maker and third largest globally, operates more than 60 plants in 25 countries and has nearly 70,000 employees.
The union said the talks are focused on job security, keeping plants open and health care costs.
Ranick has said that affected locals have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if necessary, but the company and union were mindful of the economy.
Goodyear reported last month that it lost US$221 million in the second quarter as US auto industry upheaval and the global recession cut sales 25 percent from a year ago.
The loss excluding one-time items was half Wall Street’s expectations, however, and Goodyear said it was seeing early indications of an economic turnaround.
The company launched 19 new products in the second quarter, cut costs by another US$200 million and eliminated 1,700 jobs. Added to 3,800 first-quarter staff cuts, the company has passed its full-year goal of 5,000.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
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