Like many of you, I’ve bought tires or used Goodyear mechanic services. I have no complaints. They’ve been professional and the products are good. As a former Little League coach, I can tell you that the local stores are strong supporters of youth sports.
In the last 24 hours, Goodyear has been on the front page and it’s not a Labor Day Tire Sale.
Someone at Goodyear decided to go “woke” with a stupid message about MAGA, Blue Lives Matter and so on. My guess, and it’s only a good guess, is that someone at HR decided to get cute. Why HR? My sense is that Human Resources Departments coast to coast are full of these “woke” types. They are the ones who do the “diversity training” programs.
Yesterday, Goodyear became the focus of a conversation that created some misconceptions about our policies and our company. For those not aware, a widely circulated image sparked a strong reaction, and we wanted to take the opportunity to provide some important context to the visual and our policies.
First, the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class. To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination. To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues.
Second, we appreciate the diverse viewpoints of all of our more than 60,000 associates, which are at the heart of many of the policies we establish. Fostering an inclusive, respectful workplace is important to establish teamwork and build culture, which is another reason we ask associates not to engage in political campaigning of any kind in the workplace – for any candidate, party or political organization.
Third and finally, Goodyear has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so. These are not mutually exclusive. We have heard from some of you that believe Goodyear is anti-police after reacting to the visual. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we have the utmost appreciation for the vital work police do on behalf of our shared communities. This can’t be said strongly enough.
Okay. We get it. Someone screwed up and he or she was not speaking for the company.
The Goodyear incident should send a message to every CEO or company full of “woke” HR types.
There were 63 million voters who made Donald Trump the president. They live in all those red counties between the coasts where Goodyear operates very successful stores. In other words, don’t kill your customers to please the “wokes.”
Again, you will go broke if you go woke.
