Nashville, Tenn. – Tire maker Bridgestone America is closing its Levergin, Tennessee, truck and bus radial tire plant and laying off 700 workers, the company announced in a news release.
Bridgestone said the closings will help the company “improve its business footprint” and “strengthen its competitiveness.”
In addition, Bridgestone announced additional workforce reductions in capacity and workforce reductions at its Des Moines, Iowa, agriculture tire plant and U.S. corporate, sales and operations. In Latin America, it has planned workforce and productivity cuts in Argentina and Brazil.
“The termination is impacting our corporate, sales and operations in the U.S. where staffing levels are required to be adjusted in response to the challenging economic environment,” company spokeswoman Emily Weaver said in an email. “Of our approximately 44,000 colleagues in North America and Latin America, just under 4% of our colleagues are leaving the company as part of voluntary and involuntary workforce reductions.”
The Levergin plant was the first tire manufacturing facility in North America for Bridgestone Corporation. The company stopped making tires for cars and light trucks at the plant in 2009, laying off about half the workforce at the time. Workers in Levergan’s United Steelworkers master union have preferential hiring rights at the company’s plants in Des Moines. Akron, Ohio; and Russellville, Arkansas, Weaver said.
