I have mixed feelings about that. It's a great retirement contract, for about 200 people with 30 years or with a little time till they retire. On the other hand, we didn't have any meetings for the bargaining committee to explain what they asked for, what they got, and what they gave up until a week after they announced a settlement.
People are glad that the demand for mandatory overtime was taken off the table.
In the past when we worked eight-hour shifts, if they needed somebody to work overtime, they would tell the lower seniority people to do it. When you work 12-hour shifts, it's hard. They would have to work on their days off too. Everyone, including the replacements from the '94-'95 strike, were willing to strike over this issue. Firestone had to end rotating shifts, which was the biggest issue in the 1994 strike.