Steelworkers in Yorkville held a vote on Thursday on a proposed contract with Esmark, the new owner of the plant.

The polls at USW Local 1223 opened at 7 a.m. and union leaders said they hope to know Thursday evening what the results are.

The purpose of the vote is to reveal if the union members approve of the deal that the USW Local 1223 officials negotiated with Esmark.

The process started in June, and union members first saw the proposed contract on Tuesday during an informational meeting.

"(There were) a lot of questions concerning structure of the contract, how we did the contract, why some of the decisions were made. But all and all I thought the meeting went very well," Local 1223 President Jerry Conners said.

However, some said that a good meeting doesn't necessarily mean that the deal will pass, because steelworkers had to give up a lot of their past benefits under bigger steel companies.

"This is a much smaller company and because we're going to be out on our own and this is a start-up company, they're not going to be enjoying the same wages and benefits that they had in the past," Conners said. "And because of that, these are really life-changing decisions that these guys have to make because a lot of them have specific lifestyles that they've become accustomed to and, right now, if they go back to the contract we have right now, there will be a reduction."

He added, "Anytime you have a job and you pick up a paycheck, I guess you have the ability to have a positive outlook whether or not it's not the paycheck you're used to. That's something you're going to have to decide whether or not they want to go forward with that."

Stay with NEWS9, WTOV9.com and WTOV9 Mobile for continuing coverage on the outcome of the vote.