Goodyear and UAW reach tentative agreement

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the United Steelworkers reached a tentative agreement Saturday night on a new master contract covering about 8,000 employees at six U.S. plants, just hours before the existing contract was set to expire.  Ratification votes on the new agreement will be scheduled at the facilities in the near future.  The tentative agreement must be approved by a majority of the members at the majority of union locals.  If approved, it will cover employees at Goodyear plants in Gadsden; Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; and Topeka, Kan.  The talks between the USW and the tire companies had begun in April. The main issues on the table were wages, vacation time, health-care costs, pensions and grandfathering of employees in some categories.  More details of the tentative agreement are expected to be released today.