Steel Mills

USW Objects to New Layoffs at US Steel Gary Works
Written by Sandy Williams
August 16, 2016
Union workers are objecting to the layoff of 38 workers at US Steel Gary Works on Friday.
USW District 7 director Mike Millsap said the workers were laid off after consulting firm McKinsey & Co determined there were too many maintenance workers at the plant.
“Under the contract, they can only lay off workers under certain conditions,” said Millsap as quoted by NWI Times. “We believe these maintenance people are needed. We’ve got a process, and we’re going to fight them on this.”
Millsap said that US Steel’s reliance on outside contract workers for maintenance is a safety issue for the plant.
Maintenance workers, said Millsap, don’t just repair equipment. “They do a lot of maintenance and work on safety issues. They do a lot of preventative safety. A lot of things won’t get done if we reduce this staff.”
More than a 1,000 hourly and salaried workers at US Steel in Northwest Indiana were laid off last year.
The union plans to approach US Steel with their concerns and, if necessary, appeal the layoffs with an independent arbitrator.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on ‘insufficient demand and pricing’
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.

CRU: Usiminas may reduce capex unless government strengthens protection
“The lack of effective measures to create fair competition, amid a surge in subsidized imports, is the main threat to the sustainability of Brazil’s steel industry and its value chain,” CEO Marcelo Chara said.

USS swings to loss in first quarter on N. American flat-rolled segment woes
U.S. Steel CEO praised the company’s resilience, “despite the seasonally low results driven by annual mining logistics constraints in our North American Flat-Rolled segment and lagging spot prices.”

Nucor gives updates on new capacity coming online
Nucor said several of its capital projects will start operations within the next year and provided an update on them.

Algoma swings to loss on ‘market challenges’ and ‘tariff uncertainties’
Canada’s Algoma Steel swung to a loss in the first quarter amid "market challenges," and the company now expects first steel production from its first EAF in the second quarter.