Locked-out union sending check to sheriffs' group
Machinists official says $1,000 donation a 'thank you' for security at meetings.
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — Locked-out steelworkers on Thursday voted to send a check to the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association following an AK Steel Corp. executive's conversation earlier this week with the Butler County sheriff.
A motion was made by a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers/Armco Employees Independent Federation Local Lodge 1943 to send a $1,000 check to the association.
The union's executive committee unanimously approved the motion, which provided them with the authority to send the check.
A Machinists official said Thursday the donation also is meant to provide a "thank you" to Butler County Sheriff's Office for providing security for union meetings since the lockout began.
"That has given people a sense of comfort and security," said Karl Heim, IAM grand lodge representative. "It was an appropriate gesture to thank them for their support. And it's a worthy cause."
Jones said he was "elated" by the possibility of the IAM/AEIF sending money to the state association, especially given the labor dispute.
"They're locked out," Jones said of the union. "They're going without, and they go ahead and do something like that? It's flabbergasting."
On Tuesday, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones was quoted in The Journal as saying Alan McCoy, AK's vice president of government and public relations, threatened to pull the company's annual contribution to the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association.
McCoy's phone call to the sheriff was prompted by a newspaper advertisement Jones purchased in The Journal and (Hamilton) JournalNews, which urged the company to end the now eight-month lockout.
In the article, Jones was also quoted as calling McCoy a "corporate lackey."
McCoy, who makes decision concerning corporate sponsorships, among other duties, said he never threatened Jones. He would not comment further. On Tuesday, he told a Cox Ohio Publishing reporter he was "getting a better understanding" of the advertisement.
Jones said he took exception to the phone call.
"It wasn't just an attack on me, it was an attack on all law enforcement," Jones said. "He hit a foul ball with that one."