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

USW seeks clarity on USS plans for Granite City Works
The United Steelworkers union has asked U.S. Steel to elaborate on its Granite City Works plans following reports that the steelmaker is ending processing at the facility.

Nucor maintains plate prices, opens October order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat for a seventh straight month with the opening of its October order book.

ArcelorMittal Mexico to import from sister mills as it works to resume DRI production
ArcelorMittal has partially restarted operations at its direct reduction plant in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan. An explosion on Aug. 18 rocked the massive steelworks on Mexico’s Pacific coast, impacting production of direct-reduced iron (DRI).

Fall maintenance outages are coming in hot
Labor Day has passed, the sun is starting to set a little earlier each day, and cooler weather has begun to find its way down to many of us across North America. And you know what that means for the steel industry… Fall maintenance outages!

AISI: Domestic steel production ticks up
US raw steel production ticked up in the week ending on Sept. 6 after a decrease the week before, according to the most recent data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).