USW Takes To YouTube This is a different kind of strike. Union workers who are in their second month of striking across the nation including Union City. Union workers can only stop cars for 30 seconds because they are being taped by Goodyear. Go over one second, and complaints are filed. They stop them locally for 20 seconds to be safe. Earlier this week, they received their first payment stubs to go on Cobra insurance, which begins in January. This week, vouchers were given at local grocery stores for roughly 75 dollars a week. The stories I'm hearing from local union members and local businesses is quite heartbreaking. But some union members aren't taking this lying down and have taken to sending their message regarding non-union laborers crossing the picket line. Reaction from local citizens on the strike is hard to gauge. Some folks resent how much union members make. Others support them unconditionally. On a personal level, I believe if you made a commitment, you stick with it. Doesn't matter if you are corporation or an individual. I'm worried about retirees losing their health insurance. They retired thinking they had it. Now, they aren't sure. Out of Cleveland from the Associated Press.

The United Steelworkers union is turning to the popular video-sharing site YouTube to question the safety of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. tires being made while union workers in the United States and Canada are on strike.

"Obviously it's getting a lot of attention," USW spokesman Wayne Ranick said. "There is obviously a big audience out there that gets that information. It's instant communications."

The union's YouTube posting suggests that using replacement workers during a strike can lead to unsafe tires.

The ad has a banner headline, "Are Goodyear tires safe?" and ends with a screeching car crash and the question, "What tires do you plan to buy?"

Here's an example of one of the YouTube spots currently up on the Goodyear Strike.

Talks broke off last week in Cincinnati. I expect this won't get any better. For more information from a Goodyear retiree who recently started blogging, go here. He had a heart transplant several years ago, and if loses his health care, no other insurance companies are willing to pick him up.

  ¶ 11/24/2006 03:21:00 PM