AKRON (Nov. 7, 2006) — The leader of the United Steelworkers (USW) union joined with John Edwards, former senator and vice presidential candidate, to fire up striking USW Local 2 members Nov. 4 at a rally in Akron.
USW President Leo Gerard told the several hundred people in attendance at the Local 2 union hall that the company would rather “dictate than negotiate. They´d rather try to make the contract worse than improve it. They'd rather try to bust the union by threatening us with scabs, rather than sit and help us get an equitable agreement.”
He also said he wants Goodyear to remember what the union did to bail them out in 2003, noting: “Goodyear's picked the wrong fight with the wrong union at the wrong time.”
For his part, Mr. Edwards said he takes this fight personally because his mother, father and other family members had health care because of unions.
“This is a just and righteous cause,” he told the strikers. “You stood up and made huge concessions for this company in 2003. You did what was right and it's time to make Goodyear do what's right.”