AK Steel, union reach agreement

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) -- AK Steel Corp. and the United Steelworkers of America said Monday they have completed a contract that resolves all issues remaining from a 39-month lockout at the company's Mansfield Works.
A settlement in which both sides drop civil litigation will be submitted to the National Labor Relations Board along with a request that NLRB charges against each other be dismissed, the two sides said.
The deal includes increased return-to-work bonuses and credit toward seniority for the lockout period, the union said.
The settlement "is the first big step in establishing the framework for a new, cooperative relationship between AK Steel and the USWA," said James Wainscott, who became president and chief executive of AK Steel in September. "We have closed the book on our past differences."
About 600 employees were locked out of the Mansfield Works on Sept. 1, 1999, by the plant's former owner, Armco Inc. AK Steel acquired Armco and continued to operate the plant with salaried personnel and about 250 replacement workers.
The lockout ended in December 2002. Temporary employees were terminated, and the company has completed the recall of the 280 eligible union members necessary for current operation, the company said.