July 25, 2006 — The nearly five-month long lockout at AK Steel in Middletown, Ohio, has cost Southwestern Ohio communities more than $100 million in economic activity, and could cost AK Steel Corp. shareholders even more, according to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).

According to the IAM, the company could be facing costs associated with lost sales, late deliveries, concerns about the quality of the steel being produced by replacement workers and the ill will of customers and community, and more.

Management locked out employees on Feb. 28, 2006, after failing to come to terms on a new contract. The company has maintained partial operations at the plant with 1,500 managers and inexperienced replacement workers.

Unresolved issues at the start of the lockout included health care costs, work rule changes, finding a replacement for the company's under-funded pension plan and training concerns at the Middletown facility. "The union has, and we continue to make, serious proposals that address management's concerns. Our members know that their jobs and their community depend on the continued profitability of the Middletown facility," said Brian Daley, President of Armco Employees Independent Federation (AEIF), the independent union representing 2,700 workers at AK Steel.

In May, AEIF officials proposed affiliation with the Maryland-based International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to allow workers access to the IAM's multi-employer pension plan with nearly $8 billion in assets. Locked out AEIF members at AK Steel quickly embraced the pension proposal and a majority signed authorization cards calling for an election to make the IAM their new representative. The election is scheduled for July 26-27.