Steel Mills
US Steel Continues to Shrink its Workforce
Written by John Packard
September 17, 2015
Once one of the largest corporate giants in the United States (if not the world), United States Steel (USS) continues to shrink its workforce as demand for its products shrink. SMU has learned that an unknown number of white collar workers have been advised that they will be losing their jobs.
USS Spokesperson Courtney Boone advised Steel Market Update this afternoon, “We staff our organization based upon our operational and business needs. We have not commented on numbers but will say that these adjustments impacted salaried employees.”
US Steel, under the leadership of Mario Longhi, has been working for many months to reduce the company’s overhead. As part of a program nicknamed “The Carnegie Way” (after Andrew Carnegie who created Carnegie Steel Company which when sold to JP Morgan in 1901 became U.S. Steel) the company has been cutting costs in order to survive.
In Augus,t US Steel announced that it would close the hot end and most of the rolling operations (except for one coating line) at their Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Alabama. The move is expected to impact up to 1,100 workers.
With negotiations between US Steel and the United Steelworkers union (USW) having failed to come to an agreement on September 1, 2015, the company has been working under the terms of the old contract. With ArcelorMittal having walked away from the negotiating table, many in the industry expect that over time US Steel will as well. The company is pushing for concessions from workers who have not seen a strike or lockout since the mid 1980’s.
The company also put their Canadian operations into bankruptcy over a year ago (see Mediation article in tonight’s issue) and have closed or reduced operations at a number of their pipe and tube operations due to weakness in the energy sector.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Mills
Steel Summit: Schneider sees SDI ‘on the edge of a very good run’
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) President and Chief Operating Officer, Barry Schneider, remains bullish about the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker’s position in the current market.
Steel Summit: Burritt says USS and Nippon are fast-tracking modern steelmaking
U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt told audiences at SMU's Steel Summit 2025 that the iconic American steelmaker’s partnership with Nippon Steel is fast-tracking smarter steel production.
Nucor moves to stop HRC price slide with $10/ton hike
Nucor is attempting to halt the decline in hot-rolled coil prices with the announcement of a $10-per-short-ton increase in its weekly consumer spot price on Monday.
Explosion rocks ArcelorMittal’s DR plant in Mexico
ArcelorMittal reported a "strong" explosion at the direct reduction part of its massive Lazaro Cardenas mill in Mexico.
SDI to acquire remaining stake in New Process Steel
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) announced that it has agreed to acquire the remaining 55% equity interest in New Process Steel.