Steel Mills

AK Steel Union Ratifies Contract at Ashland, Kentucky Works

December 13, 2014

Members of USW Local 1865 have ratified a new contract at AK Steel. The 42-month labor agreement covers more than 800 hourly and maintenance employees at Ashland, Kentucky Works. The new contract will take effect on March 1, 2015 and expire Sept. 1, 2018.

“We are pleased that members of Local 1865 have ratified a new labor agreement at our Ashland Works well ahead of the expiration date,” said James L. Wainscott, Chairman, President and CEO of AK Steel. “This early agreement continues to provide a competitive contract for AK Steel and our Ashland Works employees.”

Ashland Works recently had their blast furnace (named Armada) return to full operation after having had the hearth relined. The 2,000,000 tons per year of pig iron production (approximately 2.1 million net tons of steel production through the BOF) coming back to full production along with furnaces at US Steel and ArcelorMittal has been one of the reasons why the current market is a little weaker than what we saw this time last year.