GOODYEAR Striking workers who returned are harassed

Strikers are using bullhorns to criticize the workers at their homes.
AKRON (AP) -- Three tire makers who had been on strike but who crossed the picket line to return to work at a Goodyear Tire & amp; Rubber Co. factory say they have been harassed at home by strikers.
The three, United Steelworkers Local 2 members, went back to work last week. The strike began Oct. 5.
Strikers came to their homes last week, including Thanksgiving Day, and used a bullhorn to criticize them in front of family and neighbors, the three said. Some police reports were filed.
"It was probably the hardest decision I made in my life," said Tony Steen, 35, a tire builder for five years who went back to work. "Do you turn your back on your union brother or do you turn your back on your family? I did it out of necessity."
Striking Steelworker Bob Gorham, a pipe fitter who has worked at Goodyear 37 years, wondered what the three thought union members would do.
Quotable
"Give them a big hug and a pat on the back? We'd like this strike to be over, but we want a fair and equitable contract," Gorham said.
Goodyear's position is that strikers can return to work any time they want, company spokesman Ed Markey said.
The strike has involved more than 12,000 Steelworkers in the United States and Canada.
The local has about 470 members, most who make racing and experimental tires. Local 2 president Pete Stamich said Local 2, founded in 1935, has never had any member cross a picket line before.
Goodyear workers in other parts of the country also have crossed the picket line. USW Local 959 in Fayetteville, N.C., has listed on its Web site the names of 222 people who have returned to work. That local has more than 2,100 members.