Monroe Chat

This should be an interesting story to follow-up on......

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Arbitrator: AK can’t shutdown Ashland plant
How decision may affect Middletown Works is still unclear

By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer
Updated 12:15 PM Thursday, July 16, 2009

ASHLAND, Ky. — An independent arbitrator has ordered AK Steel to abandon its plans to shut down its Ashland Works plant in Kentucky as it is a violation of a provision in its contract with the United Steelworkers.

The decision was announced Wednesday, June 15. AK Steel had announced in May it would likely idle its Ashland Works facility beginning late in July or early August and continue that shutdown possibly through the remainder of 2009.

It had planned to bring up its Middletown Works blast furnace during that time, favoring that plant due to its hot strip mill, which Ashland does not have, and its ability to produce the full range of slab widths required by AK customers, officials said.

Tony Montana, spokesman for the USW, said the grievance was originally filed in November 2008 when the Ashland plant was first shut down by the company. However, it was put on hold when the company agreed to a better supplementary pay deal for laid off workers.

Ashland was restarted in January in preparation for the shutdown of the Middletown blast furnace for maintenance.

“After AK restarted and announced another shutdown, our leadership decided to press forward,” Montana said.

After the arbitrator’s decision, the next step is up to AK Steel.

“Theoretically, if AK disregards the arbitrator’s decision and follows through with the shutdown, there is a whole host of liabilities that the company opens itself up to,” Montana said.

The Middletown blast furnace has been shutdown since March for maintenance. During the May announcement, officials had said bringing the local plant back online could mean some of the nearly 380 salary and hourly workers on layoff could be brought back, especially those associated with the blast furnace and steel shop. They had estimated the maintenance would be complete in June.

AK Steel spokesman Alan McCoy said the company continues to evaluate the decision and has no comment.

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Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

Hmmm... trade one plant for another?