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Morning News

Bridgestone/Firestone Facing Strike Threat Amid Tire Recall Woes

Aired September 1, 2000 - 11:07 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Trouble mounting for the tire maker Bridgestone/Firestone. A potential strike by the United Steelworkers of America threatens now to shut down operations at nine different Firestone plants across the country. They've been trying to agree on a contract since March, the deadline midnight tonight.

Here's Mark Potter now live in Nashville with more on this labor dispute.

Doesn't look good, does it, Mark?

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the talks are under way and it's still, in terms of labor talks, quite a period of time now between where we are and midnight. So we'll just have to see.

We're actually in LaVergne, Tennessee, Bill, near Nashville, near the corporate headquarters. This is a Bridgestone/Firestone plant, one of nine in seven states, that would be affected if a strike is called. There are 1,300 workers at this plant who are represented by the United Steelworkers of America, and they are prepared to walk out if they get word from their union after midnight tonight.

A union spokesman said the contract talks, which, as you said, have been going on since March, are under way today. They are now under way around the clock as we get to this late hour. He described the talks as intensive, and described the whole situation as, in his words "a nail-biter," meaning this could go right to the midnight hour. He said that some progress has been made, but also stressed that there have been -- there still are considerable differences between the two sides.

Now, a company spokesman says that a strike would hurt everyone and is something that the company is trying hard to avoid. It is hoping for a negotiated settlement. And the company says it will do all it can to make sure that that happens before midnight.

At the same time, however, the spokesperson said that contingency plans for a strike are being put together and predicted that a strike would have, in her words, a "minimal effect" on the tire replacement effort, in part because so many tires are being flown into the United States from Japan on a 747 cargo plane that is flying daily from Japan loaded with tires for the recall effort. Of course this labor problem during this tire recall is particularly bad timing for the company, and it certainly gives some advantage to the union during the negotiations, which are under way at this hour in St. Louis.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Mark, certainly the union would not admit to the fact that the timing is critical to the negotiations. But between the lines here and behind closed doors, how much is this strike timed to the tire recall to really put a squeeze on the company in this case?

POTTER: This is putting a squeeze on everybody, and they all admit it. Everybody knows that they are under pressure. All eyes from the country are on the company and the union, and I think everyone is feeling the pressure, certainly the company feeling it more than the union to get some sort of settlement.

The union points out that this is not something that it planned. Negotiations have been under way with this company unsuccessfully since March. The tire recall effort is only about a month old. It's just that we had the confluence of two events coming together at a particularly bad time for this beleaguered company.

HEMMER: Well, they may all meet tonight at midnight. Again, that's the deadline for the strike to ensue.

Mark Potter, just outside Nashville. Thanks, Mark.

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