
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995                   TAG: 9507030021
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CLEVELAND                                 LENGTH: Short

RUBBER WORKERS VOTE ON UNION MERGER

The United Rubber Workers union was founded 60 years ago with just over 3,000 members. Now, it has the chance to join one of the country's largest labor unions.

This weekend, members of the URW will vote on whether to merge into the vast United Steelworkers union. While the move could give the 94,000-member URW a strong labor position, many fear that it would lose some of its stature.

The United Steelworkers of America's membership in the Roanoke and New River valleys and Martinsville totals about 360 people, according to union officials. The largest area employer of Steelworkers is Intermet Corp., Atlanta owner of Lynchburg Foundry Co. in Radford, with about 280 union employees, the union said.

The biggest local employer of Rubber Workers members is Yokohama Tire Corp. in Salem, which employs about 1,000 people.

The executive board of the Akron, Ohio-based URW voted in May in favor of the merger, but the final decision will be made this weekend in Pittsburgh. A two-thirds majority is needed for passage.

Details of the merger agreement have not been disclosed.

Those who favor the deal say it will increase the URW's importance, but others see the merger as an end to its independence.

Staff Writer Jeff Sturgeon contributed to this story.

by CNB