|
Firestone's woes grow
|
 |
September 1, 2000: 1:44 p.m. ET
Federal safety officials issue warning on more tires; strike threat still looms
By Staff Writer John Chartier
|
WASHINGTON (CNNfn) - Firestone's woes continued Friday, after federal safety officials issued a consumer warning for 1.4 million additional tires and some 8,000 of the company's workers threatened to walk off the job in the face of a strike deadline.
Both the unions representing the workers and Firestone management reported some progress in contract negotiations late Friday, but the possibility of a strike remains.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warned consumers to consider replacing an additional 1.4 million Firestone tires, on top of the 6.5 million already being recalled by Bridgestone/Firestone.
Bridgestone/Firestone refused to recall those tires, most of which were manufactured several years ago as replacement tires, but may still be subject to the same tread separation problem as the tires in the original recall, NHTSA said.
"We disagree with NHTSA's analysis that led to today's advisory," Firestone Spokeswoman Chris Karbowiak, said in a statement released late Friday. "Our preliminary review of the advisory reveals differences between our information about these tires and the agency's. This will be a topic of future discussions."
Karbowiak also said that the company would provide consumers with a free inspection at company-owned Firestone Tire and Service Centers or authorized participating Firestone retailers, and that it would replace the tires for free, using competitors' tires if necessary.
She added that fewer than half of the 1.4 million tires in the advisory are still in use.
Another company spokeswoman said Firestone hoped to sit down with NHTSA to discuss the advisory.
Click here to see which tires are included in the warning.
Authorities began investigating the tires in August after receiving reports that the rubber peeled off the tire casings on some versions of the Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness tires. The tires are used on a number of sport/utility vehicles, but most of the complaints have focused on the Ford Explorer. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Thursday raised the number of deaths it is investigating as possibly being caused by the defective tires to 88.
GM weighs in
In a late-afternoon press conference, Brook Lindbert, director of tire and wheel systems for General Motors, said 10,000 Chevy Blazers built in 1991 were equipped with many of the 1.4 million tires, and that it is unlikely such old tires are still on the road, but that the company would do whatever was necessary to ensure customer safety and satisfaction.
Lindbert also said that of the 10,000 Chevy Blazers, only two were involved in the 250 accidents under investigation by NHTSA.
In addition, Lindbert said several of the company's new trucks were equipped with about two million Wilderness tires, but added they are not part of the recall because they were built to specific GM standards, which are different than those of Ford and other automakers.
He also said GM had no plans to drop or scale back its use of Firestone tires because of the recall.
"We have no plans to deviate from using them as a supplier," Lindbert said. "Firestone is a key and significant supplier to us."
The move comes as NHTSA is moving from a preliminary investigation of the tires, where documents and information are gathered, to an engineering analysis, which involves looking at the tires and vehicles they were on.
Sources close to Ford said the additional tires in the advisory are mostly replacement tires, but do come as original equipment on one model year of Chevy Blazers, three model years of Nissan pickups and some models of Ford F-150 pickups. An advisory means that consumers should be concerned and aware of the potential problems with the tires, but it does not force Firestone to recall the tires.
Ford said Friday that Explorer sales were off in August.
Midnight strike deadline looms large
News of the stepped-up investigation comes as negotiators are facing a midnight strike deadline that would severely cripple the company's ability to replace the 6.5 million recalled tires.
About 8,000 members of the United Steelworkers of America have threatened to walk off the job at nine Bridgestone/Firestone plants just after midnight Central Time Saturday (1 a.m. ET) unless a new contract can be reached.
A strike could have potentially devastating effects on a company that some say may already be doomed.
Wayne Ranick, a spokesman for the steelworkers union, said at 6:20 p.m. ET Friday that negotiators in St. Louis had made some progress and characterized talks as "intense" going for six hours at a stretch "without even a door being cracked." He declined to say in which areas progress had been made. Both sides are trying to reach a new agreement to replace four separate contracts that expired in March and April. The workers have remained on the job under an extension agreement.
Ranick said the most important issues to the union have to do with pensions, seniority rights, grievance and arbitration procedures, and salaries.
"This recall thing surfaced about three weeks ago and the contract talks started in March," Ranick said. "Our people are feeling pretty frustrated by the lack of progress. We feel that company is really just dragging their feet and stalling."
Ranick added that workers believe they cannot talk freely to management, which he alleged has threatened and coerced employees as well as conducted "illegal surveillance" on employees. He did not elaborate on those issues.
Firestone spokeswoman Meghan McCormick also said progress had been made in the talks.
"We are continuing to meet around the clock, and continuing to make progress as the deadline approaches," McCormick said.
A White House spokesman said Friday that the Clinton administration currently has no plans to order employees back to work if they do strike Saturday.
"There's no indication that the administration is going to intervene in any way," the spokesman said. "These are tough issues, and I encourage both parties to keep talking, to keep negotiations open."
Other issues tread heavily on Firestone
Ford said Friday that a work stoppage at a Firestone plant would have little impact on Ford's tire replacement program in which more than 30 brands are being used to replace the suspect Firestone tires.
Further battering the company has been the distancing of Ford Motor Co. from its century-old relationship with Bridgestone/Firestone. Ford used the recalled tires, the ATX, ATX II and Wilderness brands, as original equipment on most of its Explorer models. Add to a report from Venezuela's consumer affairs bureau, Indecu, calling for criminal charges against both companies, and, some say, this could be the end for Firestone.
"If [Firestone parent] Bridgestone has to incur a strike and is unable to meet its commitments to customers, the name would be even more badly damaged," said Rod Lache, analyst with Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. "Bridgestone at this point basically has to capitulate."
Lache said the union would come out ahead because it has the leverage and there probably will not be a strike.
But even if Firestone dodges a strike, the company faces a long recovery period, at best. "The Firestone name is horribly damaged and it's definitely not clear they can survive the damage," Lache said.
Lache did note, however, that big names such as Tylenol and Gerber have overcome similar debacles.
Ford's decision to split is not in response to recall
Separately, Ford confirmed reports that it had signed French tire maker and Firestone competitor Michelin to supply tires for its 2002 Explorers.
The agreement ends Ford's exclusive use of Firestone tires on the trucks.
"If we've learned anything from this, we can't put all of our eggs in one basket," Ford Spokesman Jason Vines said. "It's probably wrong in the future to single-source to one maker. It's just bad business."
On Thursday, Ford CEO Jac Nasser said he has decided to appear at next week's congressional hearings, reversing his earlier decision to let two experts go in his place. Bridgestone's Chairman Masatoshi Ono has already agreed to testify at congressional hearings chaired by Rep. Billy Tauzin, (R-La.) at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
'We did not lie'
Also Thursday, Nasser angrily denied that the company lied to the Venezuelan government about problems with Firestone tires. 
Venezuela's consumer protection chief Samuel Rio Ruh recommended that criminal charges be filed against the automaker and Bridgestone/Firestone, alleging design problems on both tires and sport/utility vehicles that contributed to 46 deaths in the South American nation.
Ruh said the two companies had a "shared responsibility" in producing a "fatal combination" for Venezuelan drivers. He said the agency would not take any legal action against the companies, but he urged the public prosecutor to file criminal charges.
He said the recall of Firestone tires in Venezuela should be expanded to tires other than the 15-inch models specified in the U.S. recall. He also called for Ford to reinforce, free of charge, the suspension on all of the roughly 30,000 Explorer sport/utility vehicles sold in Venezuela since 1996.
The soft suspension and weaker tires make the vehicles "undriveable," Ruh said, adding that Venezuelan investigators have written proof to back up their allegations. 
-- CNNfn's Kelli Arena and CNNfn.com Staff Writer Kim Khan contributed to this report.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
