Allenport was the other killer. Poorly built, terrible location for the rest of the company, lousy productivity. Rotten union attitude. In 1981 I saw a temper mill run by a crew of five. At US Steel Gary it takes two. Add to that the Gary mill runs at twice the speed, and you start to see the problem. If you want to criticize the management, it should be for not having the nerve to close that shop as part of the second bankruptcy. It was a money loser every day of the last three decades.

I notice I haven't seen any mention of the new cold mill recently. I wonder why?

As for Massey, well, lousy coal makes poor coke. Poor coke means the blast furnace underperforms. That means the caster makes fewere tons per day, and that cuts shipments. Final result, fewer dollars per day. Is that the only reason WP was losing money? Not by a long shot, but you can bleed to death from a hundred paper cuts just as badly as one big gash. Just takes longer. Massey should be taken for every dime they can get. Breach of contract is grounds for legal action every time. Lost profit, lost opportunities, punitive damages. This one should be easier to win, because it shows a pattern of behavior.

As far as Severstal Wheeling the union has put the company in it's worst situation in the company's modern history. Essar was the far better choice for the company, and now with the blast furnace closed, it is the beginning of the end for many employees at that plant. The union was told this over and over again, but like Esmark, they voted in line as their masters instructed them. However, their masters again have lead them down the path of certain destruction.

Severstal will have to fire a great many USWA workers to get their labor costs down to the point where they can actually turn a profit.

W-P was always blaming others or suing other companies for their failures. W-P lost money no matter what. Blaming Massey for their losses is misleading at best.

I am not saying that Massey did not sell at spot prices to take advantage the market. I have already stated that I believe Massey is capable of such behavior. Certainly, a company with such a poor safety record is capable of shortchaning in other areas, as well.

HOWEVER, Massey's coal DOES NOT belong to its' customers until it is on the way to the customer. Does Massey have people go down into the seam and write "property of Mountain State" on the face? I wasn't there. I don't know what production problems Massey ran into. I don't know if certain mines' production was reserved for contract customers or not.

Yes, contracts must be kept and must be enforced. Yes, it looks bad for Massey. But do you really think Massey got a fair deal in Brooke County? Would W-P have gotten a fair deal in southern WV?

My father worked for Wheeling-Pitt in the 70's and 80's. Wheeling-Pitt was a constant loser and to blame your failures on suppliers is a cop-out.

The award came down from a home jury in Brooke County. Because of a well-publicized smear campaign from the WV Democratic party, Don Blankenship's ties to the WV Supreme Court were well known. There was absolutely no way the court could rule in favor of Massey without subjecting themselves to an investigation. So they let the award stand.

Do I think Blankenship and Massey would renege on contracts to sell coal on the spot market? Yes. But the coal they promised doesn't belong to Mountain State until it is physically delivered. Maybe they had contracts to sell to China at spot prices-contracts that were signed before the W-P deal went into effect.

All in all, you may be right. I wasn't with Blankenship when the decision was made. Perhaps they agreed to sell coal to W-P from one mine, with spot market sales to be made from another.

There is just no way of knowing. Regardless, W-P was unable to make a profit during a record boom time for steel.

This one needs a response.Yes, I am an employee of WP. I am a Union member but not a big union supporter. I don't get involved in the unions politics because mine are conservative.

On Massey you are way off the mark! They were found guilty of not honoring their contract. I believe we conservative believe in and demand accountability. As for the Brooke County home cooking, they appealed to an extremely Massey friendly WV Supreme Court and lost. Blanlenship is good friends with more than one justice as well as the chief justice. NO Home Cooking for Brooke County or WP there.

Keep up the conservative posts. I'll hold your feet to the fire when need be.

I don't deny for a minute that W-P tried to pass off their failings on Massey. If you can't turn a profit, sue! I believe this because W-P couldn't earn a dime in record times for the steel industry. This says that W-P and their management team were incompetent.

Truth be told, W-P should have been out of business 20 years ago. Years of taxpayer subsidies postponed the inevitable.