Lateefah Simon: “on July 12, of last year, 4,200 members of the United Rubber Workers went on strike at Bridgestone/Firestone. The plants…”

“on July 12, of last year, 4,200 members of the United Rubber Workers went on strike at Bridgestone/Firestone. The plants are in Decatur, IL; Des Moines, IA; Oklahoma City; Akron, OH; and Noblesville, IN. Negotiations had been going on for some time prior to that on the new contract. The United Rubber Workers had insisted on a similar contract to the contract they had with Goodyear. Bridgestone/Firestone, which is wholly owned by a Japanese company, insisted they could not do that, and then negotiations broke off. Unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated so that Bridgestone/Firestone has said they are going to permanently replace all these workers. It is the first time in modern history that that has been done in a large scale, with the exception of the PATCO strike. This is an unusual situation. It is contrary to the traditions of labor-management relations in our country. Interestingly, it would be illegal in Japan.”