By Alabama Public Radio
Tuscaloosa, AL – There will be no immediate strike among workers at B-F- Goodrich Tire factories in Tuscaloosa and Opelika. Union leaders and company management agreed to extend negotiations on a new contract. The original deadline expired at midnight Wednesday. The negotiations began in April 2003 and affect about four thousand union members. The United Steel Workers of America has about 14 hundred members at the Opelika operation and 13 hundred workers each in Tuscaloosa and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Retirement medical benefits, earnings caps and vacation time are among the issues at the center of debate.