Document aBmL97B5BdzmX6dxvVDmogvGN

|isanto FROM i NAME & L ION I Mr. J. R. Eck - World Headquarters DATE February 5, 1973 SUBJECT REFERENCE TO MP&P Management CONFIDENTIAL Last Friday we notified U.S. customers of a change in our polyvinyl chloride strategy. Affected employes at Springfield were also contacted. X would like to give you a summary of this information. This is for your internal use only. As part of its long-range planning, MP&P had decided to withdraw from the U.S. vinyl plastics business. Our participation in this market is increasingly small. Also, we ended our manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer, the raw material, several years ago. On February 1, we signed an agreement with Borden, Inc., whereby they are licensing our polyvinyl chloride patents and technology. Borden also signed a sales agreement for the purchase of all PVC resins made at Springfield. We are withdrawing from the PVC film and compound business around July 1. This means two production units at Springfield will be shut down. These decisions have no effect on Monsanto's PVC operations outside the United States -- which are considerably larger. Let me emphasize that MP&P is not withdrawing from the plastics business. We believe better opportunities exist in several other areas -- such as polystyrene and ABS. You will be reading more about our plans here during 1973. JRE:mw Editor PoLv--?ross Mono 5.^to Co T3 0 vc o6 ^ o *'r ^ */ o indias Ha H-t. Discussions on serious economic prob lems facing vinyl operations are being held between Goodyear Aerospace man agement and union officials. The problems center on high costs caused by a combination of work prac tices. arid relatively high wages and bene fits that prevent the plant from being competitive-, according to Thomas W. Leary, manager, vinyl factory operations, and It. Elner, GAC personnel manager. Leary Ebner are the chief spokes men for G.-'C in the meetings that have been held to review the vinyl business since the current working agreement was signed in 10(39 with Local S56, United Auto Workers. The agreement expires March 1. i. 1 - i ED] TCi p S NOTE: Thin rf>hsmn is ^rtividod to y'.i nmv.lintui nlK>ut the lioRpiml-motlical- snr;'ir:t! jmsriTtm, pnrscriptifm dxisi ]>lan, life ins's-nrnv ft rut fRhi'r survivor benefit*, retirement piuis, Surisif S'iuiiiy, vacation Tuiy an<3 (ither ixrie* fstji. Qnustion-s must Ik.* in writing, but it is not m.ary to si^n your nmne. However, it is ad visable Ln pi'm-irtc a name and address or depart ment mrmkr In injure an answer. Tf the finest ion e.tnnoi Ik? answered in print, it will be answered by a personal leuer. All names will be kept confi dent i:il. i Q. Next year, I'll be 62. IE I retire then, -- 4_-v p'nnli u-tlt T .-rlTaj'f from Union officials at the meetings ha'e been C. E. Alien, president of Local S5I, United Auto Workers; Charles Warner, UAW international representative; ar d Itoy Walker, chairman, union bargaining committee, and his committee members. "Competition is the toughest it has ever been in the flooring, plastic sheeting and packaging film markets," Leary said. "We must make improvements in Plant B in order to assure any worthwhile degree cf job security for our people." The plar t has 46(1 employes. The company has examined ail elemcnls of the business to seek ways hrpr'ivi-ig profitability, which has declined substar- Daily. Since 1964 when the first vinyl agret- nient was signed, more than 6.9 miliioi has been invested in modernization and new equipment at Plant B to increase productivity and improve product quality, Leary said. Of this sum, $1.2 million ha; been spent in the past three years. "The return on this investment has con tinued to decline," Leary said. "Since 3901 our costs have climbed tremendously. Our payroll lias gone from $4.4 million to $5.! million. Hourly wage rates have increase 1 by 30 per cent and employe benefits ar; up nearly 50 per cent." He said a recent survey showed that GAC pays 20 per cent higher wages than the average of its competitors. "Our vinyl operations are part of the vinyl plastics industry even though the products are manufactured by aerospace employes," he noted. The products are marketed through Goodyear's Films and Flooring Division. "Our wages, benefits and other costs must be competitive with those in the plastics industry and not in the aerospace, automotive or tire industry," Leary said. Squad Alumni slate B**-- ,* P-*.-- ,, iSPP Pr. ,, "1 fee S V Bir A membership drive for the Goodyear Squadron Alumni Club will start Feb, 18 at 7 p.m. with a smoker at the American Legion Post 209, 10(3 S. Arlington St. "Our officers and trustees are looking for new members and former members who haven't renewed their memberships this year," commented Chuck Enix, club president. "Members are eligible to participate in all of our annual events, which this year will include the alumni smoker this month, an election dinner in April, a family picnic in August, a fall reunion in September and a Christmas dinner-dance in Decem ber," he explained. Membership dues are $2 and can be purchased or renewed by contacting any of thp 'Uih officers o-- trustees. Fo*- ?ur- , t ,;nf/v rni ofi n 3_1 _ T ,nt*!nr\, V i ri'O rf. rut skating twins Must grown-ups react to a February cold wave by turning on the television and moving closer to the fire, but last week's cold snap only gave John and Jennifer Port extra energy for skating on Silver Lake. The nine-year-old twins are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Pet ;f Silver Lake. Por` is a RSV0025939 RSV0025940 val;e m RUBBER & PLASTICS NEWS, APRIL 24,1072 For Company Plants in Akron BFG Workers Okay Jobs-Saving Plan AKRON -- More evidence that unions and managements in the rubber industry here arc beginning to cooperate in facing mutual problems emerged Sunday, April 9, when rubber workers in B.KGoodrich Akron plants voted overwhelmingly in favor of a five-point jobs-saving program. The BFG workers, members of Focal 5 of the United Rubber Workers, voted 1117-277 to accept the five-point pro gram which the company and Local 5 leaders hope will help BFG Akron plants become more competitive and thereby halt job losses here. The vote by BFG workers was the second in Akron within a month in which a rubber company local bal loted in favor of a "jobs-saving" pro gram. Firestone workers last month also voted overwhelmingly for a similar pro gram. Meanwhile, Goodyear and URW Local 2 are discussing a similar program. Four of the points approved by BFG's workers arc revisions within the Local's supplemental, in-plant working conditions and won't require further action. They are: * That divisions within the plant, espe cially engineering, he streamlined bv combining some job classifications, woik areas and assignments within those areas, 'this will provide the companv with greater flexibility in making job assign ments and reduce lost time by minimiz ing workers' movements. Modification of some of the provi sions in the seniority system. That any plant shutdown of not more than two weeks' length be counted as vacation lime, if the shutdown occurs m Tune. Inly or August. This applies to shutdor down to the departmental level. Conversion from the current cash method of wage payment to check. THE FIFTH pmposal, which calls for a ihree^j^ pci iod to teview and tevise y They /Vixed BFG | y Flan at Flam | | In Clarksville j| Hi AKRON -- In pointing out the iii ill setiousriess of the B.F.Goodrich Hi jobs-saving program in Akron. Hi Gem go Cunningham, piesident of iii iii URW Local 5. compaied the situ- Hi ii! ation In Akron with that ol BFG's HI ii; shoe products plant in Clarksville, Hi :ii Tetm.. which the company an- iii ii niHinced it would phase out by ii; mid-1 972 for economic reasons, ;|| ii; "Wc could have taken the post- iii Hi tion they (the workers) took in Hi ;H Clarksville," Cunningham said, iii Hi "Goodrich let them know what was !!! Hi needed to save that plant, but the [ii Hi membership followed the recom- iii Hi mendation of their officials and {{{ HI voted against such action. iii H; "The very next day, the company HI Hi withdrew their proposals and an- Hi Hi nounced the plant would shut jjj HI down. Then they realized BFG iii H! wasn't kidding and the people got jjj !|j concerned. They asked their lead- Iii Hi ers to go back to the company and Hi Iji plead for reconsideration, jjj Ii! "One of their officials (union) ii! Hi fold me: `Wc made the wrong de- iji Hi cision,' bn! they realized it loo late ii; Iii and now there's no hope for iji jjj Clm ksville. Hi jii "this is the type of decision jjj jii lacing us and what we do, it's lot iii Ii! all of us," Cunningham told Local jjj jjj 5 members. jjj !!! BFG has since agreed in prin- jjj jj! ciple to sell the assets of the ii; HI Clarksville plant to Vulcan Corp. Ii! iij of Cincinnati, iii incentive labor standards, is a master contract item. It will require ratification ol at least four of the URW's eight other locals even though the change will apply only to Local 5. Harry B. Warner, BFG president, said his company was "pleased and encour aged by the responsible decision reached by members of Local 5. Their vote rec ognizes an urgent need to take new and unusual measures to Improve the com petitive position of BFG Akron plants. "By its vote," Warner continued, "the membership endorsed a positive program proposed with the sole purpose of saving jobs in Akron. The company, supports this goal and will cooperate-to the fullest extent, consistent with economic realities, to work toward the same objective." lie went on to say that "We cannot expect that the result of the vote, of itself, will bring about conditions leading to an immediate correction of the decline in employment at the Akron facilities of BFG. There is no instant cure-all. We can expect, however, that the attitude expressed in this vote will become a vital factor in slowing the decline, iti turning the situation around and leading to even tual stabilization of job opportunities." Warner added that "Today the future of Akron manufacturing operations of BFG can he viewed with more optimism than at any time in the recent past." GEORGE CUNNINGHAM, president of Local 5, indicated he was pleased with the 5 to 1 margin of victory, adding that "If this doesn't make Akron competitive, nothing will. We've given them every thing we could. They can't ask for more." At the meeting, Cunningham expressed disappointment at the small turnout. The local has 3,600 members, but only 1,439 showed up for the balloting at Akron University. "With all the publicity this has received and with all the talk that has been going on in the plant, I can't understand it," Cunningham said. "I can't believe so few were concerned with decisions that had to be made today." Cunningham also said that during the negotiations that led to the vote, the local had tried continually to get some type ol a committment or guarantee if it accepted the proposals. "Finally, late Friday (April 7) we gof something from the company which giv' us a ray of hope," he said. "They sai. they are planning an expansion of the radial tire production and will include us, with a substantial investment being made in the Akron lire plant. "It's a heckuva decision for us lo stand up here and ask for these changes. But our situation is serious, and we're not kidding you." According to the Area Progress Board here, Akron has been losing an average of 1,000 rubber-related jobs a year for more than a decade. In the last 13 months. Local 5's membership has drop ped by 800, with an additional 450 workers laid off. T V'ifA Ar V lies'v,I' : '! 't t . /' '"f '-hH'1''' mmmtI;gBB84:TuyJ T Jfjl" insight leads to answers. And for carbon black-related answers, the expert insight^kie of our Columbian Technical Services Representatives iHfly a phone call away. His knowledge, experience and skill can help you answer your problems without costly trial-and-error. He can show you which carbon black to use and howto use it to achieve the best product results. And he may even be able to help you reducecosts. Our Technical Services Representatives are backed by extensive R & D programs at our Cranbury Research Complex. Through Cities Services unique photomicroscopy techniques, they can help you more precisely forecast application results for any Columbian carbon black. (For an explanation of our advanced photomicrosqopy techniques; write for our free booklet, "VulcanizatePerformance as a Function of : Carbon Black Morphology".) A few minutes matching ideas with your Columbian :. CITIES SERVICE COMPANY, COLUMBIAN DIVISION 3200 Str@Dt, Fairlawh ViljsQB,. Akron, Ohio 44313 (216) 867-580.0 . cities service ^ COMPANY International Sales: Cities Service Export,; Inn.. 60 Wall St.. Nev; Yo k. N. Y. 10005 (212) 422-1633 / (: . 7,7I.G Canadian Sales: Cities Sotvice Chemicals, Ltd,. Bnx 3393. Station C. Hamilton. Ontario ;.v. wekeepyauahead RSV0025941