Tentative Pact to End Strike at Firestone

Negotiators for Firestone Inc. and the United Rubber Workers union reached a tentative settlement on a new contract Sunday, paving the way for 4,700 Firestone workers to end their weeklong strike.

Union spokesman Curt Brown said ratification votes on the three-year contract would be held this week at Firestone offices and plants in Akron; Noblesville, Ind.; Des Moines, Iowa; Decatur, Ill.; Russellville, Ark., and Oklahoma City.

Workers were expected to begin reporting to work Sunday night, he said.

The URW members struck May 15 after Firestone declined to accept the cost-of-living allowance provided in an industry pattern agreement the union negotiated with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Brown said the new contract followed the Goodyear pattern reached May 17.

“Our major goal had been to keep pattern bargaining, and that had been all we really asked from Firestone,” Brown said. “This isn’t really a greedy contract.”

Firestone spokesman Robert Troyer said, “We believe this is a fair and realistic contract for our employees. The agreement recognizes the particular needs of Firestone’s tire operation.”