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RALEIGH (AP) — The Legislature and Gov. Mike Easley appear headed for a showdown Monday over economic incentives for an aging Fayetteville tire plant, in a battle that could make state history and hand the two-term incumbent a rare defeat from fellow Democrats.

Since Easley vetoed a bill last week targeted to benefit Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., there have been few signs of progress toward a compromise that would avoid the first veto override in North Carolina.

"The governor and his staff are working with the Legislature in every way we can," Easley spokesman Seth Effron said Thursday in announcing the governor will call the General Assembly back to Raleigh for a session at 2 p.m. Monday to consider his veto.

The prospect of lawmakers negating Easley's veto is very real since the House and Senate each approved the original bill by a wide margin. Three-fifths of House and Senate members present Monday would have to agree to reject the veto so the bill could become law.

North Carolina's governor received veto power in 1997. Only eight vetoes have been issued since then, all by Easley, and none has been overturned.

House Speaker Joe Hackney was confident Thursday that his chamber has enough votes for an override, spokesman Bill Holmes said. In the Senate, Majority Leader Tony Rand of Fayetteville is among the bill's strongest supporters.

"People are committed to assisting Goodyear," said Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, one of the bill's sponsors. "If it can't be done one way, then it will have to be another."

The bill would allow state officials to give up to $4 million annually, for 10 years, to a manufacturing company if it agreed to invest at least $200 million in new equipment over five years.

No company was named in the bill, but it was designed to help Goodyear, which currently employs about 2,700 workers in Fayetteville and wants help upgrading its plant so it can make more profitable premium tires.

The company has been offered similar financial assistance for similar renovations in Alabama and Oklahoma, and Fayetteville-area officials worry that a delay in a commitment could prove fatal to their plant. The local economy is already struggling because about half of the 48,000 soldiers assigned to neighboring Fort Bragg are deployed overseas.

"The loss of Goodyear to the people of Cumberland County would be devastating," Gary Cooper, president of the Cumberland County Business Council, wrote in a letter mailed this week to legislators urging them to override the veto.

In his own letter to General Assembly members Wednesday, Easley said the bill approved on the last day of the Legislature's regular session Aug. 1 would set a "dangerous precedent for North Carolina's economic development policy."

Since the bill would apply to plants with at least 2,000 workers, Goodyear could reduce its work force by several hundred people and still receive the grants, Easley said.

A Goodyear spokesman at company headquarters didn't immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking comment. Fayetteville-area lawmakers said this week he's had no discussions with company officials about large upcoming layoffs.

The 2,000-worker provision was designed to help other companies qualify for the grant program, possibly Goodyear rival Bridgestone Firestone, which has an operation in Wilson, according to Glazier.

Easley is floating an alternative plan he said would resolve problems in the Goodyear bill while broadening the incentives to other companies in economically distressed areas looking to remodel to stay competitive.

Legislators "need to understand we must protect jobs. The state's investment must be rational and performance-based, and not this cash giveaway," Effron said.

While some lawmakers support the change, the plan wouldn't be considered until the Legislature takes up regular business next May. That's too long to wait, according to some Fayetteville boosters.

Easley has received support from many Republicans urging legislators to uphold the veto, and also all five major candidates for governor.

Still, House Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, said Thursday he couldn't gauge the veto's level of support among fellow Republicans. Glazier said both Democrats and Republicans back an override, making it the more likely outcome.

Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, generally opposes incentives but said he plans to vote to override in part because a Goodyear plant closure would harm too many families.

"We certainly ought to protect some of the highest (paying) manufacturing jobs in the state in a highly depressed areas," he said.