Steely edge to a heated argument
Virus cases concern workers; US Steel says it’s taking precautions
U.S. Steel’s Gary Works plant is a “superspreader” of COVID-19 cases in the area, a few steelworkers insist.
“The company cares about only one thing – production,” one worker said.
A company spokesperson counters this allegation, insisting U.S. Steel has instituted numerous programs and precautions across all of its operations while following the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We are doing everything we can regarding precautions during a pandemic,” said Meghan Cox, the company’s manager of external communications. “Steelmaking is an essential industry and we simply can’t stop production.”
The landmark plant on Gary’s north end employs roughly 3,600 workers as part of the company’s U.S. workforce of 10,500 and 27,500 total employees across all operations, according to U.S. Steel figures.
The Pittsburgh-based company distributes daily reports to employees, sharing updated numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases at its various facilities and exact work locations.
At the Gary Works and Midwest plants in Northwest Indiana, a Dec. 10 report cited a total of 419 confirmed cases, broken down by facilities, such as primary, finishing and staff. Five days later, that number was up to 457 confirmed cases.
“I wonder how many local COVID cases can be traced directly back to Gary Works,” one worker said. “They never come to sanitize the crew shanty. And in some cases they are forcing you to work where you have less than six
feet distance.”
I am not disclosing the workers’ names because they fear retribution from management if they speak publicly against the company’s COVID-19 protection protocols.
“Everyone there is scared to talk about this issue,” one former worker told me. “And I can’t say I blame them. I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes.”
“Management at the mill is not taking their concerns seriously,” he said. “Workers just don’t feel like they have a voice in something where their health – and possibly the health of their family members – is directly affected.”
The Dec. 10 report also shared the updated number of employees, 347, who have returned to their jobs at Gary Works, including the Midwest plant in Portage.
“Regarding COVID-19 cases, our experiences are consistent with what is being seen in the general population,” Cox said, echoing what the company is telling its workers.
“We provide a number of policies to accommodate employees who are impacted by COVID-19, to ensure their safety and the safety of their fellow employees,” she said.
These safety measures include social distancing within workstations, limiting and screening outside visitors to facilities, increased cleaning frequency of high-traffic areas and employee facilities, and distributing face coverings and hand sanitizer to employees, the company said in a statement.
Two other workers told me they have no complaints about the company’s efforts.
“The union and the company, in partnership, are doing an excellent job of making sure we have all the PPE and cleaning supplies we need to disinfect,” one longtime worker said. “I would disagree with anyone who says not enough is being done.”
Dr. Roland Walker,
Gary’s health commissioner, said his office is monitoring the numbers at the Gary Works plant, which has submitted a written plan for emergency preparedness situations. Walker also pointed out that although the plant has more than 450 confirmed cases, those infected workers’ numbers were reported in their home communities across Northwest Indiana and beyond.
Cox said the company is providing workers with jobs, earnings, and new safety measures amid a pandemic that has deeply affected the steel industry. Mills must balance production versus protection as steel manufacturing remains down and plants continue to operate below capacity.
For the month of October, steel mills in the U.S. shipped 6.7 million net tons, a 14.7% decrease from October 2019. Shipments yearto-date in 2020 have dropped 16.5% compared to 2019 shipments through last October, according to the American Iron and
Steel Institute.
Local steel mills are not the only plants with workers who’ve contacted me to voice concerns of substandard or shameful protection policy enforcement against COVID-19.
“It is real hush-hush out here,” one worker told me.
It’s also “hush-hush” when it comes to workers who want to speak out publicly – to protect themselves and their loved ones – but who fear they’ll lose their jobs or positions if they do so. Or they will be ostracized by other employees, even during a public health crisis that has killed more than 300,000 Americans
Working in steel mills has always been tough work, dating back to 1906 when U.S. Steel’s Gary Works began operations. It’s dirty, potentially dangerous work in outdated facilities that I wouldn’t want to punch a work clock every day. I was reminded of this Wednesday when I drove past the Gary Works plant on Broadway.
It’s been in operation – 24 hours a day, every day – for so long that most region residents barely notice it, except for the ever-belching smokestacks or noxious smells (depending on the wind direction). I know firsthand. I was raised just east of Gary Works, which remains one of the largest employers in our region.
The workers and contractors who choose to earn a living there, as with other steelmaking facilities, deserve every dollar they make. And every benefit they earn. Joke all you want about union workers who actually work only a few hours a day (or less), they still have to drive into a depressing entranceway, punch a clock for eight or 12 or 16 hours a day, and disappear into a bleak work environment. Again and again.
They deserve to be reassured that their health is being protected from a virus that remains more of a mystery than a mainstay, such as seasonal influenza.
Is U.S. Steel’s Gary Works facility a “superspreader” in our region? I don’t know. The term is not a CDC definition as much as an opinion. In this case, it’s the opinion of some workers at Gary Works. However you interpret it, 459 COVID-19 cases is an eye-popping figure. And this is only confirmed cases.
What’s unconfirmed, at least to me, is whether the company is indeed doing everything it can to safeguard its workers. And, by contagious extension, the rest of us.