Mei W.
Last month, Bridgestone Americas announced the layoff of 700 workers due to the closure of a 50-year-old plant in Lavergne, Tennessee, the oldest Bridgestone tire factory in the US. Over a hundred workers are also expected to be fired at an agricultural tire plant in Des Moines, Illinois—on January 6, the company notified the United Steelworkers union that 130 workers there will be offered severance pay if they voluntarily quit, stating the possibility of layoffs if this number was not met.
The number of workers laid off announced by Bridgestone Americas increases to 1,760 when including other locations in the US, Argentina, and Brazil. Bridgestone will be making more cuts at plants in Akron, Ohio, as well as plants located in Brazil and Argentina, though those numbers are yet to be disclosed.
Bridgestone stated that the layoffs will “optimize its business footprint” and “strengthen its competitiveness.” During an earnings presentation last November, the Japanese tire monopoly reported a decrease in profit in 2024 compared to the year prior. According to the Manufacturing Dive newspaper, Bridgestone experienced 18% and 15% decreases in demand last year in North America and globally respectively.
Tire monopolies have carried out multiple rounds of layoffs in the past year due to the economic crisis of overproduction, continuing the ruling class’s efforts to push the cost of recovery from their crisis onto the workers. The tire manufacturing workers join the ranks of the unemployed in the wider auto industry, which has been hit particularly hard by the general overproduction crisis, weighed down by the expensive electrical vehicle transition in its attempt to regain profitability while competing in particular with Chinese social-imperialism’s EV industry.
French tire monopoly Michelin announced that they will close down tire production in Ardmore, Oklahoma and fire 1,400 workers by the end of 2025. Last November, Japanese monopoly Sumitomo Rubber fired 1,245 workers at its only US factory in Tonowanda, New York, citing low profits. On February 14, Sumitomo will shut down the factory and fire the remaining 135 workers, effectively ending the company’s tire production in the US.
image: Workers at a Bridgestone tire facility in the US, United Steelworkers website
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