Goodyear Union City workers accept buy-out

The United Steelworkers (USW) union has confirmed that slightly more than 500 of its members at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s Union City, Tenn., plant have accepted buy-out offers from the company.

"The plant is changing from being a seven-day continuous shift operation to six days," a USW spokesman has told www.moderntiredealer.com.

This shift change necessitates fewer workers. "I think the great majority of the folks (in Union City) are retirement-eligible."

The Union City plant has the capacity to produce 35,000 passenger and 13,000 light truck tires per day, according to Modern Tire Dealer research.