The United Steelworkers union is asking its 14,000 members at ArcelorMittal's U.S. plants for permission to authorize a strike against the company "if it becomes necessary."

The strike authorization votes are scheduled to be taken today at the 14 United Steelworkers locals representing ArcelorMittal's hourly workers, a handbill being distributed today at ArcelorMittal's domestic plants states.

The United Steelworkers is asking for the right to strike because union officials say not enough progress is being made on a new labor agreement -- despite four months of negotiations. The current agreement expires Monday.

Of the 14,000 ArcelorMittal union members affected, roughly half are at its plants in East Chicago, Burns Harbor, New Carlisle and Riverdale, Ill.

"After more than four months of attempting to negotiate a fair contract with ArcelorMittal on behalf of our more than 14,000 members and our tens of thousands of retirees, the lack of progress has led to our decision to ask you to give the International and the Bargaining Committee the authority to call a strike if it becomes necessary," according to the handbill, which was e-mailed to The Times.

ArcelorMittal officials said Tuesday they believe both the company and the union are committed to the process of negotiations and are optimistic a "fair and reasonable settlement" will be reached before the contract expires Monday.

"It is now more important than ever that we all stand strong and send a unified message to the company that Steelworkers will not back down and will not go away," the handbill states.

Negotiations with ArcelorMittal went sour after competitor U.S. Steel and the USW reached a tentative labor agreement Aug. 10 that set a pattern for the integrated steel industry.

If the union ends up striking, it will be the first such action the region has seen in years.

On July 17, 1986, LTV Corp. filed bankruptcy, and the company canceled retiree health benefits, prompting LTV workers in East Chicago to stage a wildcat strike until a court restored those benefits less than a week later.

Later that month, a six-month work stoppage began at USX Corp.'s U.S. Steel Group. The union called it a lock-out while the company called it a strike.

The work stoppage idled thousands of employees.