Tom Harkin: “Here is part of the article from the Wall Street Journal. It says: When he took the wheel at Bridgestone Corp's U.S.…”

“Here is part of the article from the Wall Street Journal. It says: When he took the wheel at Bridgestone Corp's U.S. operations 3 years ago, Japanese executive Yoichiro Kaizaki warned managers that he's a born gambler, and that he always wins. Mr. Kaizaki--who spent more time at the mahjong table than his college economics classes, a classmate says--was given bad odds for turning around the ailing U.S. operation . . . Now, Mr. Kaizaki has cast the dice in perhaps his toughest wager yet; that he can crush a six-month-old strike at three of the company's eight U.S. tire plants, allowing Bridgestone to stand alone against a costly master contract adopted by its industry peers. Analysts think it would be tougher for the United Rubber Workers to maintain its clout in the industry if Bridgestone prevails in the strike. That is why this is so insidious. Goodyear settled. Pirelli/Armstrong is going back to work. Dunlop, they have all signed on. But now here is Bridgestone. They are saying, no, we are not going to reach an agreement. We will crush the union. We will depress our wages. And that will put Goodyear, Dunlop, and Armstrong at a competitive disadvantage. And what are they going to do? Their shareholders are going to say, ``Wait a minute; we have to do the same thing they are doing.'' And thus you get the ratcheting down of conditions in this country. So this does not have just to do with Bridgestone.…”