Goodyear cutting production at Tennessee plant

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will reduce production at its Union City, TN, automotive tire plant from 24 hours a day, seven days a week to a five-day, three-shift operation on July 6. The move will also result in about 550 employee buyouts, the company said.

United Steelworkers members agreed to a revised labor agreement that allows the change. The plant, which produces 12 million OE and replacement tires a year, employs about 2,300.

The company expects to record after-tax restructuring charges associated with this action of approximately $60 million primarily in the second quarter of 2009, which relate to cash severance payments that will be paid primarily in the third quarter.