Goodyear, Union Reach Tentative Pact; Strike Averted

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Rubber Workers reached a tentative three-year contract settlement today, averting a strike that had been scheduled for noon today.

Union President Milan Stone said the agreement calls for an immediate 25-cent hourly raise and allows for a wage reopener in 1990, depending on Goodyear’s financial situation.

“We’re hopeful that it will be ratified,” Stone said. “I’m sure they were looking for more. I’m convinced that there isn’t any more, and they should ratify this.

” . . . I think we have to recognize the problems that (financier Sir James) Goldsmith has put upon this company and ultimately puts upon the workers in a company that’s had to undergo such a corporate takeover attempt.”

Goodyear fended off a takeover bid by Goldsmith in the fall of 1986 by purchasing the 11% share he had acquired in the Akron-based company.