Akron-based Goodyear and the United Steelworkers Union are negotiating new national contract covering 8 thousand tire workers at six plants. The first round of talks in Cincinnati ended last week and recessed until June. The current contract expires July 27. There's been no talk of a strike. It's unclear if the union will use the talks as a pattern to set the stage for negotiations during the summer with Bridgestone-Firestone and Michelin-BFGoodrich. Steelworkers held a strike at Goodyear for three months in 2006.