two different standards for quality control within Bridgestone. If a problem developed in a Bridgestone factory, "our technology staff would rush to the site [overseas]. But if a problem arose with a Firestone tire, they wouldn't do anything." "We let the U.S. unit use its own culture. There was an element of mistake in that." United Rubber Workers strike The tires that failed were primarily manufactured at Firestone's Decatur, Illinois, factory during a time of labor unrest and a strike against Firestone carried out by the United Rubber Workers (URW) and the United Steel Workers (USW). In January 1994, Firestone and the URW entered into new contract negotiations. Firestone demanded considerable concessions from the union. These concessions included switching from an 8-hour workday to 12-hour alternating shifts so the factory could remain in operation 24 hours a day, a pay cut by 30 percent for new hires, a seven-day workweek instead of five days, hourly workers would contribute to their healthcare plan, a switch from a piece-rate system to a performance based system, and senior workers were to lose two weeks of vacation time. By April 1994, the existing labor contract ended and workers continued to work at the factory until the URW called a general strike in July at Decatur and four other Firestone facilities. Almost immediately Firestone began hiring replacement workers at all their facilities and by January 1995 Firestone had hired 2,300 replacement workers who were paid thirty percent less. Over time union workers started to cross the picket line and by May 1995 there were 1,048 replacement workers and 371 permanent workers at Decatur. At that time the URW voted to unconditionally end the strike to block Firestone from hiring even more replacement workers and then holding a union decertification election. While the strike ended the labor negotiations continued. In July 1995 the URW had run out of money and was absorbed by the USW. During the time period from May 1995 and December 1996 union workers worked alongside non-union replacements. Labor negotiations between Firestone and the USW continued but many union workers could not return to work because their jobs had been replaced. The union described that time period as "brutal." The USW continued to negotiate specifically trying to get Firestone to allow all union workers to return to their jobs. In December 1996, the USW finally reached an agreement and all union workers were