A new contract between Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers union in which the company set up a trust fund to get rid of future retiree health care costs is drawing interest from the traditional domestic automakers. Detroit's Big Three have been racking up red ink due in part to rising retiree health care costs, and all three say they are studying the Goodyear agreement for potential savings. In the pact, ratified by workers last month, Goodyear created a $1 billion retirees' health care fund that gets it off the hook for future health insurance benefits.
See "Big Three study Goodyear labor pact for possible savings", Tom Krisher, Chicago Tribune, January 22, 2007