The Goodyear Tire And Rubber Company announced that it is permanently closing it's sprawling century-old tyre plant in Alabama that once employed thousands of people.
Papers filed by the Ohio-based company revealed that it has reached a deal with laborers to permanently close its plant at Gadsden. The plant had been temporarily shut for some time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Documents reveal that the company accepted 740 buyouts at the massive factory last year, and reports in the news suggested that it laid off about 100 people in February, leaving just around 410 people working at the factory.
Members of the local United Steelworkers union still must approve the agreement. It was reported that the meetings with members would begin on Monday.
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The massive plant once employed more than 4,000 people and was the first major tyre plant built in the South when it opened in 1929. Goodyear cited "eliminating production of less-profitable consumer tyres" as the reason for closing the factory.
Gadsden was one of five plants protected from closing through 2022 under a labor contract approved in 2017. That’s why union approval is necessary for the the plant to be closed permanently.
Interestingly, the company had also announced that it would end production at the plant way back 1999, but a new labor deal had avoided a closure then as well.
The plant was expanded in 2015, but Goodyear has since concentrated more work at plants in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and San Luis Potosi, Mexico, that can match Gadsden’s full-strength output of 6.2 million tyres annually but at lower costs.
About Goodyear Tire And Rubber Company: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Akron,Ohio. Founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling, Goodyear manufactures tyres for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery. The company also produced bicycle tyres until 1976. Goodyear is one of the top four tyre manufacturers along with Bridgestone (Japan), Michelin (France) and Continental (Germany).
