The EPA accuses AK Steel of polluting Dick's Creek in Middletown. Following a breakdown in negotiations, the company began operating the plant with replacement workers. The National Labor Relations Board has ruled the lockout is legal. USWA members were willing to work under their old contract until negotiations could be settled, according to Montana. But the company was unwilling to continue, and shut out the workers, he says.
Security guards are in place around the plant since the lockout, sometimes wearing riot gear.
As far as we're concerned, locking out your employees is a hostile and radical approach. But union workers' behavior make the show of force necessary, according to Alan McCoy, vice president of public affairs for AK Steel. The Steelworkers and their mob put eight people in the hospital. Montana admits union supporters turned violent Sept. 10, 1999. But he says the real violence is by the company.