Union treads lightly on pay to get grip on jobs.

• Position: Eastern

Roughly 3,000 workers at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. factory in Fayetteville, already benefiting from state incentives to keep employment up, got extra protection against job loss in contract talks between the company and the United Steelworkers. With recession crimping company finances, the union focused on job security rather than wage hikes for the more than 10,000 Goodyear employees it represents. Under the proposed agreement, which hadn't been ratified in mid-September, the company...