AK Steel Locks out Employees at Ohio Plant

After failing to reach an agreement on a new contract with its union at AK Steel’s Middletown Works plant in Middletown, Ohio, the steel company has locked out its union workforce and is operating the mill with salaried and non-union, temporary labor. The lockout affects 2,700 hourly workers. The contract expired Feb. 28^, 2006.

The lockout does not affect operations at other AK Steel plants.

According to the company the most recent proposal it offered the union covered the following: Base wage and incentive rate increases for 84 percent of current AEIF members; existing base wage and incentive rate preservation for all other current AEIF members; industry-comparable profit-sharing plan for all AEIF members - company-provided pension contributions to a secure and portable 401(k) retirement plan; continued full healthcare benefits, but with some cost-sharing; streamlined job classifications from more than 1,000 currently to the industry-standard of seven; workforce restructuring accomplished largely, if not entirely, through attrition and retirement; and A $10 million comprehensive settlement offer for all unresolved matters related to the expired labor agreement, which included profit-sharing payments for 2005.