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Sunday August 13 4:35 PM ET

Ex-Workers Cite Problems at Firestone Plant: Post

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former workers at the Illinois factory that made many of the 6.5 million tires involved in Firestone's recall last week have described the plant as rife with quality-control problems, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Citing court records of testimony that six employees have given or are about to give in accident lawsuits, the Post said the ex-workers cited practices such as puncturing bubbles on tires to cover flaws in products and high humidity at the plant that added to a risk of corrosion.

The Post said Firestone, a unit of Japan's Bridgestone Corp (5108.T). defended the work at the Decatur, Illinois, plant.

Bridgestone/Firestone on Wednesday announced the second-biggest tire recall in U.S. history after the federal government began investigating fatal crashes that may be linked to the tires.

In announcing the recall, the company said no design or manufacturing defect had been identified to explain the problem but said it was taking the action to be on the safe side.

At least 46 deaths have been recorded in government data in crashes where the tires blew out or the tread peeled away.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), August 15, 2000