There is no immediate resolution in sight for labor contract disputes between MeadWestvaco officials and union members who work at the international company's paper mill in Covington.

Negotiations resumed late last week and produced MeadWestvaco's second "last, best and final" contract offer. On Sunday, the negotiating committee for United Steelworkers Local 8-675 will review the offer for union members. A vote to accept or reject the latest contract is set for Jan. 10.

On Tuesday, Roy Hall, president of Local 8-675, said the committee will recommend that members reject the contract.

"I feel strongly it will be rejected," said Hall.

If that happens, he said, "we'll ask the company to go back to the table or we'll possibly be in the position to go on strike."

The sticking points remain health care, wages and pension contributions. MeadWestvaco has agreed to contract health care through Anthem instead of another provider that the union opposed. Although premium costs would drop, out-of-pocket expenses would rise, Hall said.

Hall said the company wants to increase pension contributions by $1 during each of the contract's three years. Hall said the union wants increases of $3, $2 and $2, which would ultimately offer retirees $55 per month per year of service as opposed to the $51 proposed by the company. By the union's formula, a retiree with 10 years of service would receive a monthly pension of $550.

Alison von Puschendorf, a spokeswoman for MeadWestvaco, said Tuesday that the company's economic package, including pension, compares favorably by industry standards.

On Dec. 22, union members overwhelmingly rejected MeadWestvaco's previous contract offer. Local 8-675 has about 964 members. The Covington mill's total employment is about 1,450.

Contract negotiations began Oct. 16. The union's previous, five-year contract expired Dec. 1. Current negotiations propose a three-year contract.

The union's negotiating team will meet again today with MeadWestvaco officials. The sole focus will be the company's "maintenance reliability and improvement" program and its potential effects on craft jurisdictions and overtime.

The plan could compel workers in one craft, such as millwrights, to help tackle maintenance tasks outside their craft, a change Hall said could erode individual crafts' skills and create safety hazards.

At least three members of the union's negotiating team work in the mill's maintenance department.

Mark George, vice president of Covington operations for MeadWestvaco, has told union members that maintenance costs for the sprawling mill, parts of which are quite old, must decrease for the plant to remain competitive.