CONTACT: Jess Kamm Broomell, 412-562-2444, jkamm@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) – The United Steelworkers union (USW) this week condemned U.S. Steel’s announcement that it would lay off up to 1,000 workers in Granite City, Ill.
“U.S. Steel’s decision to idle steelmaking at Granite City Works once again demonstrates its callous disregard for its dedicated workforce, who for generations have served as the backbone of the company’s success,” said USW International President David McCall.
“Our union consistently invites all our employers, including U.S. Steel, to fight alongside us to protect our domestic industries,” said McCall, “but rather than invest in the future, U.S. Steel instead keeps turning its back on its highly skilled union workforce and their communities.”
McCall noted that this trend also includes U.S. Steel’s choice to begin laying off hundreds of workers at UPI in Pittsburg, Ca., this year.
Within the past five years, U.S. Steel similarly abandoned its Great Lakes and Lone Star Steel operations, shut down coke batteries in Clairton, Pa., and reneged on its commitments to invest major capital expenditures in the Mon Valley. This is on top of the hundreds of jobs it eliminated when it shuttered operations in Lorain, Ohio in 2015.
“The company’s clumsy attempt earlier this year to pit workers against each other by blaming changes at Granite City on the autoworkers’ strike further demonstrates its cynical and opportunistic view of American labor,” said District 7 Director Mike Millsap.
“As we look to the future of the U.S. steel industry,” said Millsap, “the USW intends to draw on every resource we have available to ensure our members – in Granite City and across the country – are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.