AK Steel lockout ends with new labor contract

The year-long lockout of some 1,750 workers at AK Steel's Middletown Works ended Wednesday after the members of the International Association of Machinists Local 1943 overwhelmingly approved a new labor agreement. The agreement, ratified by a vote of 1,275 to 226, went into effect Thursday March 15 and extends through September 2011. The new contract increases pay for most workers, preserves seniority rights for bidding jobs and scheduling vacations, but will require employees to pay 15 percent of health-care insurance. Workers will be scheduled to return to work within 90 days, AK Steel said. AK Steel locked out the employees at its Middletown, Ohio plant after the workers' contract expired February 28, 2006. The flat rolled steel maker has continued to operate the mill with replacement workers and salaried employees.