Local 1943 Members Reject AK Steel Offer

In a day-long vote, locked out members of AEIF-IAM Local 1943 in Middletown, OH voted to reject vaguely worded outsourcing and back-to-work terms contained in a “final offer” from AK Steel Corp.

The company presented the 2-inch thick document three days earlier, angering the locked out workforce by setting a deadline of midnight Monday for a decision.

While the proposal included the IAM National Pension Plan, a key issue for members, the company would have “the absolute right, in its sole discretion, and without any bargaining requirement, to withdraw from the Machinists plan at any time in the first five years,” and substitute a 401K plan.

Members also objected to the company’s proposed back-to-work terms calling for a 6-month period in which the membership would be required to work with replacement workers currently operating the facility.

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