Goodyear plans to lay off 400 to 500 employees at its Union City radial passenger and light truck tire plant in response to weak economic conditions.
The layoffs-including both hourly and salaried workers-will begin Oct. 1. The duration of the cuts is indefinite, a Goodyear spokesman in Union City said. ``They'll be in effect as long as the marketplace remains unstable.''
The facility also supplies original equipment manufacturers.
The action will affect 11-13 percent of the total work force at the Union City plant, Goodyear's largest U.S. tire factory.
In better news for Goodyear's U.S. workers, the company said Sept. 26 it is reviving some of its bias-ply racing tire production in Akron, likely beginning early next year. The move will mean about 65 workers will be brought back to the Akron facility.
Five years ago, Goodyear moved manufacturing to Chile to save on production costs.
The firm plans to move equipment for the racing tire manufacturing operation into Akron before the end of the year and gear up for production early in 2003, a spokesman said.