AK Steel Holding

Infobox_Company
company_name = AK Steel, Inc.
company_
company_type = Public (nyse|AKS)
foundation = 1900
location = flagicon|USA West Chester, Ohio
key_people = James L. Wainscott (CEO)
industry = Steel
products = Steel products
num_employees = 7,000 (2006) [ [http://finance.google.com/finance?q=AKS Google Finance: AK Steel Holding Corporation] ]
revenue = increase$7 Billion FY2007 [ [http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0804/gallery.500_best_investments.fortune/2.html 20 Top-performing stocks - AK Steel Holding (2)] - "Fortune Magazine"]
homepage = [http://www.aksteel.com/ www.aksteel.com]

AK Steel Holding Corporation, formerly known as Armco, is a major American steel company founded in 1900 as the American Rolling Mills Corporation. Today the company is situated in West Chester, Ohio, (a suburb of Cincinnati) after having moved from Middletown, Ohio, in August 2007. [Press Release: [http://www.aksteel.com/news/press_release.asp?doc_id=596 "AK Steel completes corporate headquarters move"] . - AK Steel. - August 29, 2007]

Operations

Products

AK Steel pollutes the environment, damages people's personal property, and causes and overall health risk to anyone in the vicinity of their steel plant. AK Steel's main products are carbon, stainless and electrical steels, cold rolled and aluminium coated stainless steel for automakers.

One of AK Steel's best-known products may be the Armco barriers installed around many auto-racing tracks, particularly in Formula One. These barriers were commonly called simply "Armco." Reports of Formula-One races frequently include a statement like "his steering-link broke, which sent him into the Armco."

Facilities

The company has production facilities in a number of American cities including:
*Ashland, Kentucky
*Butler, Pennsylvania
*Coshocton, Ohio
*Mansfield, Ohio
*Middletown, Ohio
*Rockport, Indiana
*Zanesville, Ohio

And has additional production facilities in Canada, Mexico and Western Europe.

Management

The current CEO at AK Steel Holding is James L. Wainscott.

Environmental record

In 2002 AK Steel Holding Corp. was ranked number 16 on the Political Economy Research Institutes' "Toxic 100 " list. [ [http://www.peri.umass.edu/Toxic-100-Table.265.0.html PERI - Political Economy Research Institute: Toxic 100 Table ] ] Their Air releases for 2002 was approximately 328,418 pounds, and their Total Air Toxic Score was 133,591. [ [http://www.rtknet.org/new/tox100/toxic100.php?database=t1&detail=1&datype=T&reptype=a&company1=&company2=663&chemfac=fac&advbasic=bas Toxic 100 Detailed Company Report ] ] The Environmental Protection Agency issued an Emergency Order pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act to AK Steel's Butler Works located in Butler, Pennsylvania concerning the nitrate/nitrite compounds being released into the Connoquenessing Creek, an occasional water source for the Borough of Zelenople on June 27, 2000. [ [http://sec.edgar-online.com/2002/03/18/0000950130-02-001664/Section2.asp AKS Annual Report (Regulation S-K, item 405) (10-K405) Item 1. Business] - AK Steel Holding Corporation] They had violated the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act and that it had failed properly to dispose of hexavalent chromium waste in Butler. [ [http://yosemite.epa.gov/r3/press.nsf/7f3f954af9cce39b882563fd0063a09c/c45da10f3ed974f085256f5f00505a37!OpenDocument Environmental Protection Agency] ] In 2004 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Justice Department announced that AK Steel Holding settled their alleged environmental violations at their steel mill in Butler, Pennsylvania. [http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6427a6b7538955c585257359003f0230/64e88eb10f903452852570d60070feea!OpenDocument "AK Steel Settles Lawsuit Over Environmental Violations at Butler Mill - Steelmaker to Pay $300,000 Penalty and $900,000 in Pollution Reduction Projects to Settle Hazardous Waste, Air and Water Pollution Violations"] - Newsroom - U.S. EPA ] ] AK Steel Holding agreed to a $1.2 million settlement, which consists of a $300,000 penalty and a $900,000 in projects which will reduce smog-producing ozone in Pennsylvania. In 2006, AK Steel reached an estimated $12,000,000 settlement to compensate for PCB contamination in Middletown, Ohio. [ [http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/fdeef3661eb3b846852572a00065683e/434379bfae8d477c8525714f005f2ae3!OpenDocument Environmental Protection Agency] ]

Middletown Works lockout

AK Steel and the Armco Employees Independent Federation (AEIF; an employee labor union) had a collective bargaining agreement in place in 2004. As part of the agreement there was a stipulation that said AK Steel must employ 3,114 workers, a "minimum base force guarantee". There was also the authority for AK Steel to suspend the minimum number. On January 13, 2004, AK Steel informed the AEIF that it was suspending the minimum. The union then filed a grievance contesting the suspension. An arbitrator upheld the decision by AK Steel on July 1, 2004, subject to certain limitations, through at least May 10, 2005. The union sought and was granted a new hiring, and on July 1, 2005 the arbitrator issued a comprise total workforce. As part of the agreement the arbitrator allowed AK Steel to set aside financial payments to a fund, in lieu of hiring to the minimum, the amount of which was set by the arbitrator on October 7, 2005. On September 29, 2005, the AEIF filed a lawsuit against AK Steel in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ("AEIF v. AK Steel Corp."; Case No. 1:05-CV-639), in which the AEIF sought to vacate that portion of the July 1, 2005 Award. AK Steel answered the complaint and filed counterclaims ("AK Steel Corp. v. AEIF", Case No. 1:05-CV-531) on November 2, 2005. [ [http://www.aksteel.com/data/financial_stmts/AK%2010-Q%201Q07.pdf 1Q 2007] . - AK Steel Holding Corporation. - May 7, 2007. - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). - | Environmental and Legal Contingencies p.13 | Retrieved: 2008-06-10] [http://www.goiam.org/uploadedFiles/Settlement__Agreement.pdf "Settlement Agreement"] . - International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). - Retrieved: 2008-06-10]

On February 20, 2006 the AEIF workers announced that they would strike if they did not get a new contract on March 1. [ [http://www.whiotv.com/news/7249787/detail.html "Union Workers Agree To AK Steel Strike"] . - WHIO-TV. - February 20, 2006.]

On March 1, 2006, AK Steel began a lockout of around 2700, workers, at their Middletown Works plant, in Middletown, Ohio.Gnau, Thomas. - [http://www.middletownjournal.com/search/content/shared/oh/news/stories/2006/030106AK.html "AK Steel locks out Union"] . - Cox News Service. - "The Middletown Journal". - March 01, 2006. - Retrieved: 2008-06-10] [ [http://www.aksteel.com/data/financial_stmts/AK%2010-Q%201Q06.pdf 1Q 2006] . - AK Steel Holding Corporation. - May 4, 2006. - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). - | Environmental and Legal Contingencies p.11 | Results of Operations p.17 | Outlook p.18 | Retrieved: 2008-06-10] This lockout was the longest labor stalemate in the 105-year history of the Middletown Works.Gnau, Thomas. - [http://www.middletownjournal.com/search/content/shared/oh/news/stories/2006/030806AK.html "Day 7 brings no resolution"] . - Cox News Service. - "The Middletown Journal". - March 08, 2006. - Retrieved: 2008-06-10] The previous longest stalemate was a six-day company lockout in 1986. [Rick McCrabb, Rick. - [http://www.middletownjournal.com/search/content/shared/oh/news/stories/2006/mj030206mccrabblockout.html "Veteran AK workers fear someone's going to get hurt inside plant"] . - Cox News Service. - "The Middletown Journal". - March 02, 2006. - Retrieved: 2008-06-10] [Rick McCrabb, Rick. - [http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/19/mj101906aksteeltimeline_1.html "Timeline of the AK Steel lockout"] . - Cox News Service. - "The Middletown Journal". - October 19, 2006. - Retrieved: 2008-06-10]

By the next day, the mill was operated by 1,800 salaried and temporary replacement workers. In late October, AK offered a "final" contract, which was rejected by the union at a vote of 2 to 1. [Union: "Workers At AK Steel Reject Contract Offer". - WHIO-TV. - October 19, 2006.] One year after the lockout started, on February 28, 2007, AK Steel reached a labor deal with the labor union, [ [http://www.topix.net/content/ap/1507529783021629654834486754511181490461 "AK Steel Reaches Tentative Labor Deal"] . - Associated Press. - (c.o Topix.net)] [Press Release: [http://www.aksteel.com/news/press_release.asp?doc_id=565 "AK Steel and IAM Reach Tentative Contract Agreement For Middletown Works"] . - AK Steel Holding Corporation. - February 28, 2007. - Retrieved: 2008-06-10] The lockout was over when the union members ratified the proposed contract on March 14, 2007. [ [http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/business/2007/05/25/mj052507aksteel.html AK Steel boss projects long-term profitability] . - "The Middletown Journal". - May 25, 2007] [Press Release: [http://www.aksteel.com/news/press_release.asp?doc_id=569 "IAM Members Overwhelmingly Ratify New-Era Labor Accord For AK Steel’s Middletown Works"] . - AK Steel Holding Corporation. - March 14, 2007. - Retrieved: 2008-06-10] As part of the agreement the AEIF and AK Steel reached a joint settlement of their five total counter lawsuits, with AK Steel paying $7,702,301. A third of the amount was for profit sharing, a third for an assistance fund for employee benefits of employees not recalled to work, and a third an escrow account to settle employee disputes and claims as a result of the lockout.

AK Steel replaces Countrywide in S&P 500 Index

Following the close of trading on June 30, 2008, AK Steel was added to Standard and Poor's S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Steel Sub-Industry index, aligning the company with the very best of America's most prominent corporations. The S&P 500 is a widely known and utilized indicator of the U.S. equities market. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/06/30/daily2.html?ana=from_rss] . - "Pittsburgh Business Times". - June 30, 2008] [ [http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080630/clm077.html?.v=79] . - "PR Newswire - First Call". - June 30, 2008]

References

ee also

*AK Steel Ashland Works

External links

* [http://www.aksteel.com/ AK Steel]
* [http://www.aksteel.eu/en/e01_index.html AK Steel International]