Northwest Indiana Discussion

Union: U.S. Steel to lay off 70 at Portage facility


U.S. Steel Corp. plans to lay off about 70 workers by early next week from its Midwest plant in Portage, a union official said.

Representing workers at the plant, United Steelworkers Local 6103 President Bill Kalin said only union employees are affected in the layoff to be finalized Sunday.

By the time the layoff is finalized, Kalin said 311 workers would have been laid off at the plant since March 22. In late March, more than 900 union employees worked at the Portage plant.

Kalin said he's had to deal with many upset and distraught union members because of the company's economic circumstances.

"It's a frustrating time for a lot of people," Kalin said.

Kalin said the union now is investigating whether the company violated the Worker Adjustment or Retraining Notification, or WARN Act, requiring employers to give at least 60 days notice before the layoff is scheduled.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter said the department hadn't received any WARN alerts of impending layoffs as of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Citing information from the U.S. Department of Labor, Lotter said a 60-day notice for a layoff is needed unless there's an unforeseeable business circumstance, a natural disaster or if posting a notice could affect operations such as getting a capital investment.

U.S. Steel spokeswoman Erin DiPietro didn't comment directly on the 70-worker layoff but said the company is "continuing to adjust production across our North American operations to stay in line with customer demand and to adjust our workforce as appropriate to match our production levels."

DiPietro also said Wednesday U.S. Steel is idling steelmaking operations at its Fairfield Works plant near Birmingham, Ala. At the plant, tubular and finishing operations would continue.

ArcelorMittal announces nearly 1,000 layoffs at Indiana Harbor


By Bowdeya Tweh
bowdeya.tweh@nwi.com, (219) 933-3316 | Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | (No comments posted.)

Citing an "extraordinary economic environment," ArcelorMittal said Wednesday it planned to indefinitely layoff 978 employees at its Indiana Harbor facilities.

The company said it alerted the United Steelworkers and other stakeholders of the action Tuesday in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The timeframe for when employees could be laid off was unknown.

ArcelorMittal will idle iron-producing operations at Indiana Harbor West until market conditions improve. Iron production will remain at Indiana Harbor East's No. 7 blast furnace, according to a statement from ArcelorMittal's U.S. headquarters in Chicago

United Steelworkers District 7 Director Jim Robinson said it's important to note that with ArcelorMittal's announcement, under the current contract, the company and union will begin negotiating a layoff minimization plan. Robinson said the negotiation process hasn't started yet because the announcement was just made Tuesday.

In November, ArcelorMittal said as many as 2,444 employees at its Burns Harbor facility could be laid off by January. After negotiations, the number of people voluntarily laid off was less than 500. Robinson said that the past results can't predict how many jobs could be saved in East Chicago.

ArcelorMittal is maintaining temporary global production cuts at a level of about 45 percent, as announced April 29.

"This was a difficult decision to make, but the company is being forced to respond to the extraordinary economic environment we are facing," the statement said. "We will be carefully monitoring the situation, and we look forward to many of our employees returning to work as soon as it is warranted by market conditions.

"This development is in no way a reflection on the professionalism and dedication of our Indiana Harbor employees. ArcelorMittal appreciates their efforts and assistance during this challenging period. We will continue to work with the USW to minimize the impact on our employees and their families."

By ROBERT GUY MATTHEWS

ArcelorMittal is facing increasing worker protests around the world, including a violent confrontation during an annual shareholder meeting Tuesday in Luxembourg, as frustration mounts over plant shutdowns and the reluctance of the world's biggest steelmaker to commit to reopening idled facilities.

Although ArcelorMittal has already cut production in half and shut down plants and blast furnaces around the world -- including some iron ore operations idled Tuesday in Indiana -- it still makes more steel than customers need and expects global steel demand to sink by up to 20% this year.

On Tuesday, an estimated 1,000 steelworkers from the company's plants in France and Belgium attacked its headquarters in Luxembourg, setting off smoke bombs and smashing windows in an effort to disrupt an annual shareholder meeting.

The meeting went on despite the protests. Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, told shareholders that customers are buying less steel and using their current inventory. Producing steel that could not be sold, he said, was pointless.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124215515216411715.html

ArcelorMittal will idle iron-producing operations at Indiana Harbor West until market conditions improve. Iron production will remain at Indiana Harbor East's No. 7 blast furnace, according to a statement from ArcelorMittal's U.S. headquarters in Chicago.

Tyrka said about 750 employees would be affected because of the idling of the No. 4 blast furnace. The No. 3 blast furnace already was down, USW District 7 Director Jim Robinson said.

"We've got a lot of calls (and dealt with) a lot of rumors," Tyrka said of employees talking about the announcement.

United Steelworkers Local 1010 President Tom Hargrove said the layoffs mostly will affect employees at Indiana Harbor West, but information will be passed out at the plant gate this morning to alert them of the situation. Local 1010 represents more than half of Indiana Harbor East employees. Hargrove said some Indiana Harbor East operations would be idled this summer unless orders for steel pick up, but it's unknown if the temporary shutdowns would result in layoffs.

"Until we start building things in this country, and we start putting people to work, it's going to get worse," Hargrove said. He said it's important the country focus on maintaining its manufacturing presence instead of becoming solely a consumer nation.

Robinson said it's important to note that under the current contract, the company and union will begin negotiating a layoff minimization plan. Robinson said there is no timeline mandating when the negotiation process must be complete.

Tyrka said he anticipates meetings with the steelmaker would begin Friday.

In November, ArcelorMittal said as many as 2,444 employees at its Burns Harbor facility could be laid off by January. After negotiations, no employees were involuntarily laid off and the number of voluntary layoffs was less than 500. Robinson said the past results can't predict how many jobs could be saved in East Chicago.

Union officials expect each employee to receive a letter from the company about the WARN filing.

Tyrka encouraged plant workers to stick together through the turbulent times and remember that safety in the workplace is a high priority, even though the layoff may be weighing on their minds.

ArcelorMittal is maintaining temporary global production cuts at a level of about 45 percent, as announced April 29. ArcelorMittal Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal said in the company's 2008 annual report, the steelmaker plans to increase steel production once customers' inventories run low.

"This was a difficult decision to make, but the company is being forced to respond to the extraordinary economic environment we are facing," said Katie Patterson, spokeswoman for the company. "We will be carefully monitoring the situation, and we look forward to many of our employees returning to work as soon as it is warranted by market conditions.

"This development is in no way a reflection on the professionalism and dedication of our Indiana Harbor employees."

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., said in response to the announced layoff: "I am deeply saddened by today’s terrible news, and my thoughts and prayers are with the workers who are being laid off and their families. I will continue to do everything I can to stabilize steel to protect steelworker jobs, help our economy recover, and create new opportunities in

http://nwi.com/articles/2009/05/14/news ... 021d07.txt

2 dealerships become auto industry casualties

http://www.post-trib.com/news/1574802,c ... 15.article

GM eliminating about 1,100 dealer franchises

http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2009/0 ... 093735.txt


The man that is able to sell the most units will survive there will be another round of cuts and the competition is on.

Take that sass out of your mouth boy humble yourself sell those units a rock bottom prices and get your hand out of the customers pocket.

The game you are playing most people have to have a large down payment and the bank is not willing to get in bed with stankin high priced whores.