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Oct. 4, 2006 — In a day-long vote, locked-out members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers/Armco Employees Independent Federation (AEIF-IAM) Local 1943 in Middletown, Ohio, voted earlier this week to reject outsourcing and back-to-work terms contained in a final offer from AK Steel Corp.

According to published reports, the new contract was to go into effect Oct. 1 and expire Sept. 30, 2011. Production and maintenance workers were to be grouped into one of seven job descriptions occupying five labor grades. The offer included “several” improvements to existing pension plans, and all returning employees were to be guaranteed a 40-hour work week.

Although the proposal included the IAM National Pension Plan—a key issue for members—the company said it 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.

AEIF-IAM Local 1943 said its members also objected to the company’s proposed back-to-work terms, which called for a six-month period in which the membership would be required to work with the replacement workers currently operating the facility.

Source: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

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