AKRON Steelworkers reject Goodyear contract offer

Workers have been without a contract since mid-April.
AKRON (AP) -- The United Steelworkers of America is working on a counterproposal for Goodyear Tire & amp; Rubber Co. after the union rejected the company's latest contract, a union spokesman said.
The contract, presented to the Steelworkers on Wednesday and immediately turned down, was the first offer since talks broke down in late June.
Goodyear and the union have disagreed on company proposals to cut jobs and health benefits to save money.
The Akron-based company reported a record $1.1 billion annual loss for fiscal 2002. It has announced a turnaround plan that includes reducing costs by $1 billion to $1.5 billion by the end of 2005 and possibly selling some of its non-tire businesses.
"We have to have an agreement that allows the company the financial capability and flexibility to be successful," Goodyear spokesman Chuck Sinclair said Thursday. "There is no job security of any kind if the company cannot compete and win in the marketplace."
Union spokesman Wayne Ranick said that the two sides must come to an agreement soon and that the Steelworkers were working on a counterproposal for the company to consider.
"We need to think in a framework of days, not weeks," Ranick said.
Union assertion
An online union newsletter Thursday stated: "The union has studied the company problems closely, and has used business and financial experts to develop a comprehensive plan to save the company. ... So far, management has refused to accept the plan as a model for this new contract."
Negotiations this week included an appearance by Jon Rich, president of Goodyear's North American Tire unit. The union said Rich talked more about bankruptcy than job security.
If the union has to make concessions in the new contract, it would make sense for it to delay talks, said Scott Witlin, a Los Angeles labor and employment attorney.
A strike would be difficult for union members to accept, Witlin said.
"If the big issue is job security, you don't go out on strike to get job security, because you could be permanently replaced or see your jobs shifted to manufacturing plants oversees," he said.
Goodyear's contract with the union expired April 19 but has been extended. It covers 16,000 employees at 14 plants in Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Alabama, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New York, Kansas, Texas and Tennessee.
The company makes tires, engineered rubber products and chemicals at more than 90 plants in 28 countries. It employs about 92,000 people.