Timken Co. and United Steelworkers Local 1123 will begin contract negotiations Aug. 25.

The present four-year contract, which covers about 1,840 workers who make steel and 486 who manufacture bearings, expires Sept. 28. When that contract was negotiated, steel plant workers numbered about 1,700 and bearing plant workers numbered about 1,000.

As usual, job security, wages and benefits will be the top priorities, said Local President Joe Hoagland.

“They’re all important to our members. They’re all important to me,” he said.

Job security is probably utmost for bearing workers. The company announced in May 2004 it would close its three Canton bearing operations because products made here were “not globally competitive.” The move would eliminate about 1,300 jobs — more than 1,000 of them union production positions.

The company issued a statement saying, “The details of the contract negotiations are best handled directly with the union, so we will not be addressing those publicly.

“Both the company and the union leadership are working toward achieving a new contract prior to the expiration of the current one,” the statement said.

Hoagland said the negotiating committee still is preparing for the talks, even though members would have preferred talks to begin sooner.

He said the company offered to begin talks in mid-July, but “It didn’t happen.” The union still had information requests for such issues as hours worked, labor costs, retiree health insurance, active health insurance, pension, Timken financials and a number of others.

Hoagland said it won’t be easy. “Their initial proposal last time was hard to deal with,” he said. “There are always hard things to deal with.”

As part of the last contract, the company promised to invest $100 million over the next four years. Its Web site displays a graph showing Timken invested more than $150 million in 2007 and 2008.

Hoagland said the bargaining committee wants the negotiations to go as smoothly as the company says it does.

“We’re going in positive, but with our eyes open,” he said.

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