METROPOLIS, Ill. (AP) -- Locked-out Honeywell employees at a southern Illinois plant that helps make nuclear fuel are voting on a three-year contract proposal.
The ratification vote began at 5 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to last for 12 hours. Bargainers for Honeywell and its 230 affected workers at the Metropolis plant reached the contract proposal about two weeks ago.
Results are expected to be announced Tuesday evening. If the contract is approved, it isn't clear how soon the workers might return to work after the 13-month lockout, given that they must first undergo federally mandated retraining.
Terms of the deal haven't been released. The union local's president says the contract retains the workers' job seniority.
The Metropolis plant begins the process to refine uranium for use at nuclear power plants.