ORMET More strikers are arrested

The 10 who were arrested Friday have been released on their own recognizance.
HANNIBAL, Ohio (AP) -- Seven more striking Ormet Corp. workers were arrested Monday, hours after 10 striking union members were released by a judge who ordered them to avoid picket lines outside the bankrupt aluminum maker's two southeast Ohio plants, the sheriff's office said.
A Monroe County sheriff's dispatcher said she had no other details on the arrests outside the plant that rolls aluminum into sheets. The dispatcher would not give her name.
The 10 arrests Friday were outside the plant that makes molten aluminum. Those union members were released on their own recognizance Monday.
In order for those union members to be prosecuted, the company has to file 10 separate motions seeking contempt of court citations against each worker, accusing them of violating a court order allowing only 10 pickets each at the four entrances, Monroe County Common Pleas Judge William Harris ruled.
Company spokesman Roy Winnick said he was seeking information on whether the company planned to file the motions.
On strike
About 1,300 members of two United Steelworkers of America locals went on strike last Monday because the Wheeling, W.Va.-based company won't back down from a bankruptcy reorganization plan that includes voiding labor agreements and imposing new ones. A bankruptcy judge in Columbus has not yet ruled on accepting the plan.
The company wants to save $23 million by freezing pension benefits, raising worker health plan contributions and changing work rules.
The strikers say vans carrying replacement workers were entering the plant Friday when the union members were arrested. The company says the vans were carrying food, security officers and one salaried worker.
The sheriff's office said the strikers were armed with clubs and knives. Ronnie Blatt, grievance chairman for Steelworkers Local 5724, said the strikers had only axes for splitting wood for burning barrels.
A message seeking comment was left for Chuck Ballard, president of Steelworkers Local 5760, which represents workers at the rolling mill. He was driving to Columbus.