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Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has cancelled his visit to Middletown, where he, City Council members, county officials and representatives from AK Steel Corp. and its hourly work force union were scheduled to discuss the nearly yearlong labor dispute.

Councilmen Anthony "Tony" Marconi, David Schiavone and Jim Armbruster, each of whom were planning to attend the Saturday morning meeting, received calls this morning from Strickland's office that said they intended to reschedule the discussion.

No reasons were provided, the councilmen said.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed in the news, but hopefully they'll be able to reschedule," Marconi said.

Officials from AK Steel Corp. on Thursday said they would refuse to meet with Ohio's new governor under the setting initially planned for Saturday, saying the meeting would not help end the ongoing labor dispute, and that it could be counterproductive to negotiations.

Alan McCoy, the company's vice president of government and public relations, said AK Steel officials told representatives from the governor's office they would be willing to meet with them privately "about this or any other issue."

"It would have been nice if we could have come together and talked about our concerns because we haven't had a chance to do so," Armbruster said.

Strickland's press secretary on Thursday refused to confirm the meeting because it was still considered in the planning stages. He also would not speculate whether the meeting was contingent on AK Steel's participation.

"We appreciate the governor's interest in the issues that we're experiencing," said Middletown Mayor David Schiavone. I think the entire community is grateful that somebody from Columbus wants to get involved."

The announcement of the meeting came just one week after Jones sent a letter to Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asking them to intervene in the lockout of members of AK Steel's hourly work force.

Jones, a Republican, said he was "proud" of the response he received from Strickland, a Democrat, despite crossing party lines.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2840 or dgreber@coxohio.com.