Turkish workers strike Bridgestone, Pirelli and Goodyear

Tire Business staff report

Izmit,

Turkey - More than 4 000 workers at Bridgestone Corp., Pirelli Tyre

S.p.A. and Goodyear tyre factories in Turkey went on strike 31 May

after the workers rejected the tyre makers' latest contract offer,

according to the international chemical workers union, ICEM.

The

two sides have been negotiating a new agreement since September 2007,

according to Lastik-Is, the Turkish labour union representing the

workers. The latest offer, terms of which were not disclosed, was

rejected by 80 percent of the workers voting, Lastik-Is said.

The

union is seeking a 12-percent wage increase for the first six-month

period of a two-year labour agreement, and the Turkish rate of

inflation for each six-month period thereafter, the union groups

said. The tyre companies are resisting inflation-rate payments for

the three six-month periods, Lastik-Is said, and the two sides differ

on various social payments customary in Turkish work schemes.

The

two sides already have agreed on all other agenda items in the

59-article labour contract, Lastik-Is said.

The

decision to strike was taken by workers, and I believe we shall

overcome the employers' intransigence,” said Lastik-Is President

Abdullah Karacan in a prepared statement provided by the ICEM. “The

salary offer made by employers is far from meeting the work performed

by tire workers. Our decisiveness for gaining our demands is

resolute.”

The

workers are striking the Izmit plants of Bridgestone Brisa Sabanci,

Pirelli and Goodyear as well as Goodyear's second plant in

Adapazari.