Union rep worries about morale
ArcelorMittal mill in Conshohocken is waiting for word on layoffs
Anxiety is growing at the ArcelorMittal plant as long-term idling and the possible closure of a large part of the plant nears, a union official recently reported.
“We’re in limbo,” lamented Kameen Thompson, president of USW Local 9462, the union that represents steelworkers at the plant. “We need somebody to do something. It’s frustrating. The company says ‘we’ll let you know’ when layoffs will start. But nobody knows anything.”
ArcelorMittal last month announced it will idle its Conshohocken rolling mill and lay off 150 steelworkers.
The Conshohocken facility will continue to operate its unique heat treat, finishing and inspection facilities to finish steel rolled by its sister mills in Coatesville and Burns Harbor, Ind. It is expected that work will keep around 50 workers employed at the mill.
“ArcelorMittal USA will consolidate its plate operations by idling its rolling mill in Conshohocken, within the next year,” company
spokeswoman Mary Beth Holdford said in announcing the workforce reductions. “This decision was precipitated by the limited demand from key manufacturers that build bridges, ships, tank cars and military equipment, coupled with the ongoing surge of unfairly traded imports of steel.”
Union officials blame politics for the slowdown, saying a security hearing on the impact of cheap steel imports was continuously delayed in Congress in favor of other issues such as tax cuts and health care.
Employees continue to report to the mill as normal but it is hard for them to do their jobs when the future is so uncertain, Thompson said.
“At this time we don’t know when the process will take place with ArcelorMittal Corp.,” the union official said. “Employees also want to know how long the layoffs will be ... at some point members will have to find work or some other means to support their families if the idle lasts more than six months.”
Thompson said the plant shutdown could have national security implications should the shutdown become long term. The plant played a key role in the production of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles, Bradley land systems and Navy Seapower systems, union officials noted.
“The problem is some of these workers took years to train to operate the machines and equipment that process the steel into plate and also into high strength alloy plate,” Thompson said. “That includes rolling and heat treating the material for our customers, mainly the Department of Defense. This is critical because if the military calls on us to produce any light gauge armor plate it will be very hard to come back on line with losing those highly skilled workers. We were the main producer for the military in Afghanistan war.”
When soldiers were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan from roadside explosions, the plant made the armor that better protected their vehicles, Thompson noted.
“That was a good feeling, helping the military, but we lost some other customers that we could not get back ... it did hurt us a lot,” Thompson said.
In a letter to the secretaries of commerce and defense, the international steelworkers’ union is calling on the administration to complete its Section 232 investigation on the national security impact of steel imports. U.S. Sens. Robert P. Casey Jr. and Patrick J. Toomey as well as U.S. Reps. Brendan F. Boyle, Dwight Evans, Ryan Costello, Patrick Meehan and Brian Fitzpatrick were copied on the letter.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, whose 13th district includes Conshohocken, said he is fighting for the mill.
“As co-chairman of the Blue Collar Caucus, I am a strong supporter of Buy America policies, especially in regard to our domestic steel industry. We need to combat illegal steel dumping that hurts our superior American steel producers,” he said in a statement issued by his office. “The focus on any anti-dumping efforts should be on China — the biggest offender. The fact that a local company in my district now plans to lay off up to 200 workers is a result of unfair trade practices that hurt American steel. Unfortunately, the President is just paying lip service to the steel dumping issue with a slow, overly broad inquisition that is actually hurting our domestic industries and likely to incur retaliation.”
Boyle said he recently met with the national head of the United Steelworkers union Leo Gerard and discussed the ArcelorMittal plant as well as other related issues.
“I stand with our workers in the steel mills, including the Conshohocken facility, and will continue fighting for the American steel industry and its workers,” Boyle said.