An Opportunity For Rick Perry To Actually Do Something With His Slush Fund
By Vince Leibowitz on Oct 4, 2006 in Organized Labor | | Sphere: Related Content |
No doubt, most people are aware of the impending Goodyear strike that would affect 12 plants, including one in East Texas—the former Kelly Springfield (now Goodyear) plant in Tyler.
One of the major problems that could lead to a strike is that Goodyear won’t agree to keep open the Tyler plant and one in Huntsville, Alabama, open during the term of a new three-year labor agreement. If a deal isn’t reached on the matter, a strike could begin Thursday at noon in Tyler and 11 other Goodyear plants nationwide.
The interesting thing about the Tyler situation is this: during the last contract, Goodyear wanted to close the Tyler plant because it needed some improvements and the company wasn’t evidently interested in spending the money to do so. So, Tyler area leaders got together and raised the cash to help keep the plant open.
A similar situation is in play this time: The economic development board in Tyler has already put together a financial package to keep the plant, which as a $948 million dollar impact on the local economy every year, open.
Evidently, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, that’s not enough. Though things have improved considerably, the plant still needs more company investment.
And, the company is looking to the city to help with that, and they have:
“This is not a bluff,” [Tyler Mayor Joey] Seeber said. “They will be choosing a plant, and they want us to put a package together” to help boost profitability of the plant, he said.
However, it seems to me that Texas Governor Rick Perry could swoop down and make things a lot better with some cash from his multi-billion dollar economic development slush fund, the Texas Enterprise Fund.
After all, the Tyler Goodyear plant is the only tire manufacturing plant left in Texas. So, where’s the slush fund when you need it?
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