The Associated Press

PADUCAH - U.S. Enrichment Corp. officials and union leaders made no headway in contract negotiations after both sides rejected offers for union workers to go back to work under the terms of the expired contract.

Local 5-550 of Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International, whose 635 members have been on strike since Feb. 4, offered Wednesday to return to work to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant if: workers would be bound by terms of the old contract, which expired Jan. 31; union members would receive "amnesty" for any problems during the strike; and if an agreement is not reached after six months, specific unresolved points would be submitted to binding arbitration for 90 days.

USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said management rejected the amnesty and binding arbitration aspects of the proposal.

The negotiations marked the first time the union had offered to work without a new contract.