Hundreds of local steel workers are part of 14,500 in the United States that may be going on strike when the clock strikes midnight Sunday.

Employees at I/N Tek I/N Kote in New Carlisle voted unanimously to allow their union president to join 15 other presidents across the country in declaring a strike, if their concerns aren’t met.

Workers say their primary complaint is that the parent company, ArcelorMittal, wants to raise healthcare costs for retired employees.

“It worries me because now I’m on a fixed income. I can’t work a few more hours and get some over time,” says Karen Cunningham, a retired I/N Tek I/N Kote employee. “What I’ve got is what I’ve got.”

“This contract isn’t just about the retirees,” says George Bauer, steel worker for 34 years. “It’s about the people that work for the company in the past. It’s about the people who work for the company now. It’s about the people that are going to work for this company in the future. And if we don’t stand firm now…”

It varies from company to company within ArcelorMittal, but New Carlisle retirees pay under $20 a month for health insurance. The workers say the company now wants them to pay $150 a month.

“Retirement is a big issue. It’s what you work your entire career for,” says Todd Kegley, president of Local Union 9231. “It’s just hard to fathom, in a time when steel companies are making record profits, we just want to take care of our retirees, the people who have put us in the position to make profits.”

The plant employees 500 people, so you can imagine in a town of 1,500, their presence makes a dent.

“If the steel workers strike, I think it would almost paralyze the country,” says Becky Jose.

Becky Jose has a lot at stake with this strike. She’s a community member. Her husband is a steel worker. Even her son’s line of work would be directly affected by a halt in steel production.

“If they were to strike for an extended period of time, it could destroy homes, families. It will trickle to all the different industries that the steel industry supplies,” Jose explains. “I don’t think strikes really help anybody. I think everybody gets hurt. Even when they feel they’ve won because they’ve gotten what they wanted, it takes so much time to recoup from the time they went back to work that they’ve lost all that money.”

In a written statement, ArcelorMittal says:

•Talks between ArcelorMittal management and the USW (United Steel Workers) continue with frequent meetings throughout the day in Pittsburgh. The company and Union have reached tentative agreements on many of the outstanding issues, but continue negotiating on a handful of topics.
•ArcelorMittal is aware that the USW membership has voted for a strike authorization, however negotiations continue and we remain committed to working with the USW to reach a settlement by Sept 1.
•It is important to note that the strike authorization vote is an agreement by the union membership to authorize a strike if it becomes necessary and is not a declaration of a strike. A strike is only authorized when USW International leadership informs the company of its intent to strike.
•ArcelorMittal is committed to honoring our previous agreement with the USW to not discuss details of the negotiations with the media.

In addition to retiree health insurance, the steel workers say they want the company to invest in the infrastructure. They say many of the buildings are in much need of repair and upgrades.