Honeywell, locked-out workers in Ill. reach deal

Nearly 230 workers locked out for more than a year from a southern Illinois plant that helps enrich uranium will vote early next week on a new three-year contract proposal.

Negotiators with Honeywell and the union representing the workers in Metropolis wrapped up bargaining Wednesday on a plan to transition the workers back into the workplace. Those details were not immediately announced.

Honeywell says the union has told the company it will present the tentative contract to the workers for a vote Tuesday.

Both sides are withholding public details of the contract, pending the ratification vote. The union local's president, Darrell Lillie, says the deal crucially protects the workers' seniority and offers a 3 percent raise over the contract's three-year span.