The longest strike in Wheatland Tube Co.'s history is going to get longer as union workers on Sunday morning rejected a proposed three-year labor contract by a 230 to 184 vote.

After United Steelworkers Local 1660 leaders announced the results cheers erupted inside the Farrell Veterans of Foreign Wars hall where the vote was held. Local 1660 represents 470 production and maintenance workers at the company's Wheatland pipe and tube plant who went on strike April 28 after their previous contract expired.

Local 1660 members said the company showed it was overconfident in getting a favorable vote by already having a work schedule in place for returning strikers.

"I think they were almost positive it would pass,'' said Mike Munger, president of Local 1660.

The vote shows a strong majority of the members are backing the union bargaining committee, said Dominic Vadala, a member of that committee.

"They, (the company) haven't believed us from day one that the membership is behind us,'' Vadala said.

William Kerins, Wheatland Tube's vice president, said the company was disappointed with the vote.

"Obviously, this strike is going to continue for an indefinite period,'' Kerins said.

Last week Kerins called the contract a "final offer,'' and said it continues to remain that way. He laid at least part of the blame for workers' rejecting the offer on union leaders who brought it to members without any recommendations.

"When the leadership doesn't endorse it, certainly they're going to have a lot of people voting against it,'' Kerins said.

Before the vote a meeting was held to give an overview and answer questions about the contract. It was apparent at the start the contract faced stiffed opposition. While members of the news media weren't allowed into the hall during the meeting or vote, union workers periodically exiting the hall said members weren't satisfied with the contract.

The same sticking points that negotiators have been wrestling with for months -- health insurance for current employees, retirees' insurance and a new hiring program -- proved to be items that upset workers the most.

One union member, who was wearing a T-shirt with a hand-printed "NO'' on the front and other phrases against the contract, said workers wanted the bargaining committee to resume negotiations with the company and come back with a better offer.

Declining to give his name, the worker said people don't realize what it's like inside a mill. "Go down there and work sometime -- it's a dangerous place,'' he said.

Munger said the secret ballot vote allowed union members to send the company a message.

"They said they aren't happy,'' he said.

A major flaw in the company's offer is that it goes after too many concessions, union leaders said.

"It's like he (Kerins) wants everything all at one time,'' Munger said.

Health insurance was a big issue for workers, he said. Under the contract workers were asked for the first time to pay a portion of their health insurance premiums.

Starting in January workers would have been required to pay $50 a month towards their premiums in a 95-5 preferred provider organization plan in which employees pay 5 percent of the cost for all in-network services with a maximum annual out-of-pocket cost of $500 for individuals and $1,000 for a family plan. Prescription co-payments would have gone from $8 to $10, while doctor visit co-payments would have risen to $15 from $10.

If the company had offered to pay 100 percent of the premium, as it did under the prior contract, the offer would have stood a better chance of passing, Munger said.

Wages didn't pop up as an issue for most. Under the company's offer hourly wages would have risen 40 cents the first year, 30 cents the second year and 50 cents the third year.

"I don't think wages was the top issue,'' Munger said. "We make a good living down there.''

He said a lot of workers said they hated company's proposal to reduce pay and benefits for newly hired workers.

Kerins said that portion of the contract would probably have had little impact given that the pipe and tube business is mired in a deep slump.

"With the current economy, and given what the business is, I don't think we'll have many new hires anyhow over the life of this agreement,'' he said.

As to what happens now, Kerins said the ball was in the union's court.

"It's up to them. We made an offer and we'll wait and see what they want to do,'' Kerins said.

Munger said he was ready to meet with the company but Kerins said he would talk with union leaders this morning about if and when any new bargaining talks would be held.

"Our position is the same as it has always been,'' Kerins said. "To get a settlement they're going to have to move on something.''

He wouldn't commit on whether the company would consider restructuring the contract.

"Sometimes those things are possible, we'll have to wait and see in any future sessions if that might occur,'' Kerins said. "If they want to talk to us about moving things around we'll have to see as time goes on.''

While the company said its orders are down, Munger said Wheatland Tube supervisors, including those from its Arkansas plant, have been producing products at the Wheatland plant for more than a month by working 12-hour shifts five days a week.

Kerins indicated that would continue.

"We will continue to meet our customers' needs,'' he said.

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