US Steel announces plans to lay off hundreds at southern Illinois mill
foxbusiness.comLayoffs at Granite City, Illinois, mill could be devastating for local families and economy. FOX 2 reports.
U.S. Steel issued layoff warnings to 1,000 employees of its Granite City, Illinois, mill this week, saying they expect to fire 60% of them due to indefinite idling of iron and steelmaking operations at the facility.
The warnings rocked the local community, which will be severely impacted by the move.
«You’ve got these small businesses that depend on that income to come in, and these businesses want these people to come in and spend their money,» Edith Arnold, a woman whose relative has worked at the mill for more than 30 years, told local KTVI. «You shut them down, what are they going to do?»
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U.S. Steel's Granite City Works mill in southern Illinois. (KTVI)
The mill has a total of 1,300 steelworkers, according to KTVI. Those numbers will be cut nearly in half with the 600 expected firings. Already, 400 employees have been temporarily laid off due to idling in September.
State Rep. Amy Elik said in a statement she is «disgusted» and «saddened» by the company's decision.
«Granite City employees and their families have provided loyal, skilled labor to the steel industry for decades, and U.S. Steel is pulling the rug out from under them,» Elik's statement reads. «U.S. Steel should be doing everything it can to keep the Granite City steel mill operating at capacity, and I don’t see the company making that effort.»
In a statement to FOX Business, U.S. Steel explained the factors that went into their decision.
«The plan ensures that our melt capacity is balanced with our order book. Because we can meet customer demand by leveraging
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