Production and maintenance workers who were locked out of AK Steel's Middletown Works for a little over a year are easing back into work, union and company officials said Wednesday.
The company has warned managers, returning union members and remaining replacement workers to be civil toward each other.
One union member and 18-year mill employee stated, "The only problem I really have is we've had people who were union people that crossed our line or retirees that have gone back in there and worked while we were locked out, and I don't really want to shake any of their hands. I was trying to protect their benefits, and they were making money keeping me out."
The union member, on the subject of returning to the mill, also commented,"The place looked the same, sounded the same, smelled the same. It felt like I had just come back after a long weekend off."
A contract that runs through September 2011 was ratified last month. All workers must pass the company's physical and drug screen in order to return to work. AK Steel has sent out about 1,000 callback notices, with workers able to return in 90 days or less.