>From today's Times- this part of the story is not getting enough play,
that these tires were made by the scabs in Decateur during the strike at
Bridgestone-Firestone in those years. Labor folks should be highlighting
the fact that despite all the corporate propaganda, "replacement workers"
usually lack the skills to protect public safety and health.
Or more succinctly, scabs kill not only workers rights but the public - Nathan Newman
---- August 14, 2000 NEW YORK TIMES Ford Says Firestone Was Aware of Flaw in Its Tires by 1997 By KEITH BRADSHER --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DETROIT, Aug. 13 -- Ford Motor Company released documents today showing that in 1997 Bridgestone/ Firestone began receiving numerous complaints of injuries and property damage involving certain Firestone tires that were not recalled until last Wednesday.
Some of the recalled tires have rates of injury and personal damage claims up to 100 times greater than for tires not recalled, Ford disclosed today. Many of those claims were sent to Bridgestone by vehicle owners from 1997 to 1999, but the tire maker did not tell Ford, the company said. Ford's new automobiles, particularly Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles, are equipped with two-thirds of the recalled tires.
The automaker said it only learned of the high rate of claims a week ago, when it performed its own computer analysis of Bridgestone's data. Bridgestone had resisted Ford's disclosure of the information, said a person briefed on the automaker's work on the issue.
Ford said Bridgestone's factory in Decatur, Ill., had been the main source of the problem tires, and that the factory had experienced its biggest quality problems from 1994 through 1996. Those were the years when the factory was operated mainly by replacement workers because of a labor dispute between Bridgestone and its union, although Ford made no mention of that fact today.