Kumho workers in Georgia approve USW contract

MACON, Ga.—More than 325 employees at Kumho Tire Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, have ratified the first labor contract at the tire facility, with the vote coming more than two years after the United Steelworkers was certified as the workers' bargaining agent.

The contract is historic in nature, as the hourly staff at the seven-year-old Macon factory became the first tire workers to unionize in roughly three decades when they voted for USW representation in 2019.

Employees "overwhelmingly" ratified the labor pact between Kumho and USW District 9 during voting Aug. 8-9, according to a USW spokesperson.

"The membership at Kumho Tire fought for years to win the rights and benefits of a fair union contract," USW International President Tom Conway said Aug. 10. "Thanks to their solidarity and the hard work of our bargaining committee, they achieved that goal."

The Atlanta-based subsidiary of South Korea's Kumho Tire Co. Inc. did not return calls seeking comment.

USW representatives could not immediately be reached for further comment.

The contract is for four years, though specific dates for the contract were not immediately known.

USW District 9 Director Daniel Flippo, based in Gardendale, Ala., said the contract provides yearly wage improvements and other pay increases. Paid time off, a joint health and safety committee and other workplace protections also are written into the new contract, all while maintaining quality health care and other benefits, he said.

"The power of solidarity won a fair contract, and we proved that our voices are strongest when we stand together for the benefit of everyone," Flippo said. "With the ratified agreement in place, our jobs will be more secure, prosperous and safer than before."

The Kumho workers were the first tire factory opting to join a union since Bridgestone Americas workers at the Warren County, Tenn., plant joined the United Rubber Workers union a couple years after that facility opened in 1990. The URW then merged with the Steelworkers union in 1995, more than a year after a long labor dispute depleted the URW's finances.

Getting to this point at Kumho's lone U.S. plant took several years of fighting between the company and USW. Workers initially voted against USW representation in 2017, the year after the Macon plant opened.

But the National Labor Relations Board ordered a new election, which took place in 2019 after the USW accused Kumho of unfair labor tactics. The 2019 vote, after all contested ballots were counted, came out 145-144 in favor of the USW. It wasn't until January 2021 that the NLRB certified the Steelworkers as the bargaining agent of record.

The path to the new pact was fraught with "company violations of worker rights" since the workers first voted to join the USW in September 2019, according to the USW.

"Our members at Kumho know firsthand the difference a union can make," said Kevin Johnsen, chair of the USW Rubber and Plastics Industry Conference. "This contract ensures that the standard of living for USW members, our families and communities will continue to improve."

The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.