Firestone, union reach tentative agreement

LAVERGNE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Firestone and United Steelworkers of America negotiators have reached a tentative agreement, according to Garry Manning, the president of the Local 1055L Steel Workers Union.

Details on the agreement have not been released, but Manning says the two sides will continue talks today, even though it is a holiday.

"There are a lot of things in there that address our needs," said Manning.

The two sides have been meeting since union officials postponed a midnight Friday strike deadline.

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The United Steelworkers of America represents more than 8,000 workers at nine Firestone plants in seven states. Union officials cite job security, medical benefits, overtime and the use of temporary workers as among the sticking points.

The labor negotiations come at a difficult time for Firestone, which is weathering a flood of bad publicity because of its recall of 14.4 million tires believed to have a potentially deadly defect.

At the start of the recall, Firestone officials said they believed only 6.5 million of those tires were still in use.

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