US Steel announces plans to lay off hundreds at southern Illinois mill

[libertybele]

 

US Steel announces plans to lay off hundreds at southern Illinois mill

U.S. Steel issued layoff warnings to 1,000 employees of its Granite City, Illinois, mill this week, saying they expect to fire 60% of them due to indefinite idling of iron and steelmaking operations at the facility.

The warnings rocked the local community, which will be severely impacted by the move.

"You’ve got these small businesses that depend on that income to come in, and these businesses want these people to come in and spend their money," Edith Arnold, a woman whose relative has worked at the mill for more than 30 years, told local KTVI. "You shut them down, what are they going to do?"

The mill has a total of 1,300 steelworkers, according to KTVI. Those numbers will be cut nearly in half with the 600 expected firings. Already, 400 employees have been temporarily laid off due to idling in September.

State Rep. Amy Elik said in a statement she is "disgusted" and "saddened" by the company's decision.

"Granite City employees and their families have provided loyal, skilled labor to the steel industry for decades, and U.S. Steel is pulling the rug out from under them," Elik's statement reads. "U.S. Steel should be doing everything it can to keep the Granite City steel mill operating at capacity, and I don’t see the company making that effort."

In a statement to FOX Business, U.S. Steel explained the factors that went into their decision.

"The plan ensures that our melt capacity is balanced with our order book. Because we can meet customer demand by leveraging our active iron and steelmaking facilities, we have made the decision to indefinitely idle Granite City’s primary operations," the statement said. "We thank our employees for their contributions and will keep them informed throughout this process."...............

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-steel-announces-plans-lay-off-hundreds-southern-illinois-mill

[mystery-ak]

My father in law worked and retired from there...many years ago.

This is really going to hurt the Granite City area...nothing like announcing it right before Christmas.

[Hoodat]

Bidenomics

[Smokin Joe]

"You’ve got these small businesses that depend on that income to come in, and these businesses want these people to come in and spend their money," Edith Arnold, a woman whose relative has worked at the mill for more than 30 years, told local KTVI. "You shut them down, what are they going to do?"

This barely touches on the spinoff devastation as cafes and a host of other businesses lose business.

A lot of money that went into the local economy just won't be there, and those ripples criss-cross the pond.

We saw a bit of that when Sniffy Joe wrote off the Keystone XL pipeline day one, and the falling rig count since 2016 hasn't helped either. Production work keeps the wheels turning, but it is nothing like it was at the peak.

[GtHawk]

I can't wait for Brandon to condemn US Steel for taking action to stay profitable, let alone in business. I'm sure he and other democrats would love to order them to keep all the employees working full time, reality be damned....you can bet Biden and his socialist buddies would love to nationalize US Steel, after all who needs profits when the proletariat pays for all?

[mountaineer]

We barely make steel in the US anymore. My b-i-l retired from USS (Pittsburgh) a couple years ago.