A federal judge has ruled that contributions for health care cannot be deducted from the pensions of AK Steel retirees.

The ruling affects about 3,200 people including retirees from the Butler Township plant, their spouses, their surviving spouses and their dependent children.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Black on Friday issued a temporary injunction that prevents AK Steel from changing benefits to retirees or from charging retirees for benefits.

"We view it as a big victory," said attorney Grego Coleman with Coleman & Edwards in Knoxville, Tenn., who represents the retirees.

The order stems from a lawsuit filed in June by Butler plant retirees Ed Merkner, Thomas Rodgers and Peter Connor.

While the litigation only involves retirees from the Butler plant since 1950, including Merkner now of Dayton, Ohio, Rodgers of Bruin and Connor of Butler, it was filed in federal court in Cincinnati, Ohio, because AK Steel is headquartered in that state.

Connor, who retired with 40 years of service, said when new contracts were negotiated in 2006, the terms of the benefits paid to retirees were changed. This included deducting $44 per person from pension checks as a contribution toward health care beginning this year.

This was a breech of contract, Connor claimed, because retirees had been promised free health care for life.

Black's order stops AK Steel from making that deduction from pension checks until a final order is issued.

An AK Steel official said Friday he could not comment on the ruling because he had not seen it.