PITTSBURGH - If there was ever a Christmas wish answered early it happened today with an announcement by United States Steel.
The company announced it will begin processing slabs on the currently idled hot strip mill at Granite City and that it will bring back some of its workforce in mid-February 2017.
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U.S. Steel intends to source slabs from its own domestic facilities, the company said.
U.S. Steel said it is making this adjustment to its hot strip mill operating configuration to provide better alignment with customer needs and improve service while increasing the pace of its asset revitalization plan. The company plans to take periodic outages at Gary Works (Gary, Ind.), Great Lakes Works (Detroit, Mich.), and Mon Valley Works (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to improve the capabilities and reliability of the hot strip mills.
“We are ecstatic here in Granite City,” Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer said. “This is just a big lift for the community right before Christmas, especially for the families. We have had several events for them in recent months. We had a steel rally at the (Gateway) raceway that raised $50,000 and a basket distribution around Thanksgiving with baskets and turkeys. We are having another giveaway Thursday.”
Hagnauer said they heard announcement the CEO made about the changes going on at US Steel, but he said they didn’t think they would see anything happen for a while. Hagnauer said he believes some of the reasons for U.S. Steel’s decision are the direct result of the tariffs hearing held earlier in the year in Washington, D.C.
Hagnauer, along with previous Madison County Chairman Alan Dunstan and others went to Washington, D.C., to argue for changes needed in tariffs.
“After some of the decisions at these tariff hearings, U.S. Steel brought 400 some-odd guys back for the cold strip mill,” Hagnauer said. “The decision to bring these workers back couldn’t come at a better time for some. Some of the workers just ran out of insurance and unemployment, although they did get an extension. This is a great gift for at least 209 people.”
When Hagnauer and the others went to Washington, D.C., to the tariffs hearings, the mayor said he felt it provided a personal face behind their decisions.
“We explained the hardships right before the tariff hearings and there were people in Congress who said it provided the personal viewpoint of the hardships of people in our community and county,” Hagnauer said.
The Granite City Works blast furnaces and steel-making facilities were idled in December 2015 and the hot strip mill was idled in January 2016 in response to challenging global market conditions. The blast furnaces and steel-making facilities will remain idled. The pickle line, cold mill and finishing lines at Granite City Works will continue to operate.
United States Steel Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a leading integrated steel producer and Fortune-250 company with major operations in the United States and Central Europe. For more information about U. S. Steel, please visit www.ussteel.com.
Hagnauer said there is nothing worse than to look out his windows and see steelworkers and their families sobbing in the street after losing their jobs at the steel mill. Now, it seems the tide is turning for the steelworkers right before Christmas.
“This is great news for me,” Hagnauer said. “I wanted to come to work today and sit in my office and think about what good things will happen now with these people coming back to work,” he said. “It’s going to be a great Christmas for the families of those coming back to the steel plant.”
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