AK Steel and union negotiate as strike deadline approaches

Two days away from a potential strike, AK Steel Corp has presented a new contract proposal to the union representing AK's Middletown employees. According to a message on the union's telephone hotline, the Armco Employees Independent Federation, which represents 2'700 hourly workers at Middletown, will submit a counter proposal Monday. The company presented its proposal Sunday. The hotline message instructs employees to keep working after the contract expires at midnight Tuesday until dismissed by a supervisor or by union representatives. There are mixed feelings about the situation among Middletown, Ohio locals, whose town has been shaped considerably by the economic and cultural presence of AK Steel. A long-time Middletown employee, furnace tender Jesse Baker, told press, "I'll tell you what the feeling is: This company has lied to us for so long, we're fed up.'' According to many workers, AK has made promises for years that workers will have profit-sharing benefits but have not made any move to give the employees these benefits. But could Middletown deal with the loss of AK? AK workers still generate about 22 percent of the $18 million in revenue from the city's 1.5 percent income tax. The company pays another $7.8 million in personal property and real estate taxes. AK annually provides $775 million in the area economy, including purchases with suppliers and sales tax. "AK is incredibly important to this town,'' said Kelly Cowan, interim dean of Miami University Middletown campus, which sits on 40 acres donated by the steel maker. "If AK Steel were to disappear, I don't know what would happen to Middletown.''