Negotiations continue into the evening with just hours left to reach an agreement on a new contract between Alcoa and the United Steelworkers.
"Both sides continue to meet," company spokesman Mike Belwood said about 6 p.m. Monday. "We're coming down to the last few hours of negotiations. Hopefully, we'll have an agreement before deadline. If not, we are prepared to operate our plan."
He wouldn't give details of the plan.
The current four-year contract expires at 11:59 p.m. Monday.
Machines were shut down at Davenport Works in Riverdale, Iowa, on Monday afternoon and employees were awaiting an agreement in break rooms, the president of United Steelworkers Local 105, Skip McGill said.
Belwood would not confirm that machines were shut down and said employees were still at the facility Monday evening.
"I can't discuss details of our operating plan," Belwood said.
McGill said negotiations are "still too far apart."
"Sometimes things don't get moving till the last hour," he said. If an agreement isn't reached, "we're going to have a fight," he added.
The current contract with the USW covers about 5,400 union employees at 10 Alcoa plants around the country, including almost 1,200 at Davenport Works in Riverdale represented by Local 105.
Health insurance, wages and pension benefits are the key issues in negotiations. In an effort to control costs and improve its competitiveness, Alcoa has proposed a new health-care plan to the union that is the same that covers its U.S. salaried work force, including six union groups. The steelworkers union wants to maintain its single medical plan.
"Our goal is to reach a labor agreement," McGill said. "We've made moves on our part. They've made moves. … If we can't get an agreement, we've got to decide what to do."
Negotiations are taking place in Cincinnati, which is on Eastern time.
"I don't believe we'll have an answer until just before one o'clock (a.m.)," or just before midnight in the Quad-Cities, McGill said.