Opinion ID: 77051
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Gadsden Plant

Text: 3 During the relevant time period, Goodyear's Gadsden plant was divided into several discrete units, called business centers, each of which was responsible for one of the several stages of the tire production process. The plant included at least four business centers, each managed by a Business Center Manager (BCM): (1) Rubber Mixing (a.k.a. Banbury or the Mixing Area), where the rubber was prepared; (2) Component Preparation (a.k.a. Stock Prep), where the components for the tires were made; (3) Tire Assembly (a.k.a. the Tire Room), where machines were used to press the components into green, or unfinished, tires; and (4) Curing/Final Finish, where the green tires were cured, painted, trimmed, and inspected before shipment. 4 These business centers were in some cases further divided into discrete sections or rooms. Tire Assembly, for example, at one point included at least four sections, including the Radial Light Truck section (RLT), which assembled larger tires for sport-utility vehicles and light trucks, and the ARF Room, which assembled smaller radial tires for passenger cars. Within any one section or room, there were normally three or four rotating shifts of floor-level workers and their supervisors. 5 The machines used in the tire-production process were operated directly by tire builders — unionized, hourly workers. The tire builders were then supervised by salaried, nonunion, floor-level managers called Area Managers. Each Area Manager supervised one shift of tire builders, such that if a section were running four shifts, it would have four Area Managers, one for each shift. These production teams — the tire builders and their Area Managers — were supported by unionized maintenance and electrical workers, as well as by various salaried managerial officers and specialists, including Production Specialists and Production Auditors. Directly above the Area Managers in the corporate hierarchy were the BCMs, who were responsible for everyone in their business center, including the tire builders, the maintenance and electrical workers, the Area Managers, and the salaried managerial support staff. Supervision of the entire plant, including at least the four production-oriented business centers described above and a Human Resources Department, fell to a single Plant Manager.