<html> <head> <meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0"> <title>A Story of Corporate Greed, Violence and Concessions</title> <meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot"> </head> <body LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#800080" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> A STORY OF CORPORATE GREED, VIOLENCE AND CONCESSIONS   Neighbors, our Community has a problem! You probably know that there is currently a labor dispute between USWA Local 850 and Continental General Tire Company. Much more is going on here than a dispute between 1,450 people who live in this community and a global corporate giant headquartered in Hanover, Germany. This is about a Company whose greed has caused it to violate the standards of both our community and its German homeland. Addicted to Concessions Like many of you, for nearly 20 years we have faced constant demands from our Company for concessions. Again and again, we have made sacrifices. The result -- our wages, benefits and work rules are far behind those of other tire workers throughout the United States while Continental General, the global conglomerate that owns our plant, is making record profits. Yet, Continental General is again insisting on big concessions. And, it is using force and violence in an effort to get its way. War-like Preparations In order to force another concessionary settlement on our members, even before contract talks began, Continental General spent millions of dollars making very visible preparations for all-out war. The Company fortified the plant, hired an army of paramilitary goon guards with a national reputation for violence, and imported outsiders from northern states to steal our jobs. The guards and replacement workers that the Company has brought to Charlotte are known throughout the United States for their tactics of provocation, intimidation and community disruption. A Guest with Bad Manners Continental General is a foreign-owned Company. The parent corporation is a very good corporate citizen in Germany. It has to be. German law and customs would not permit Continental to do any of the things it is doing in Charlotte today not the demanding of unjustified concessions not the use of roughnecks and replacement workers not the refusal to negotiate in good faith. We want to settle this dispute and go back to work, but we will not let Management force another concessionary agreement on us. Please let Continental General know that its tactics are not acceptable in our community and do not reflect favorably on the image of General Tires. Thank you. United Steelworkers of America Local Union 850 Charlotte, North Carolina <hr> <a href="gtindex.htm">Return to General Tire Index</a> </body> </html>