Steel Plant Set To Restart
Yorkville mill to make steel againBy CASEY JUNKINS
Article Photos
YORKVILLE - Employees at the Severstal North America cold rolling steel mill in Yorkville could soon get called back to work, as the company plans to restart the plant in December.
"We want to get in there, and get to work with the company to make this profitable, which is good for everyone," Jerry Conners, president of United Steelworkers Local 1223 said Thursday.
According to the Associated Press, Severstal officials plan to restart the mill Dec. 13. The number of workers to be recalled is expected to vary with production demands.
Following months of layoffs, shutdowns and cutbacks, the Ohio Valley got some good economic news with Severstal's announcement. In May, the company laid off 1,900 employees, including those at Yorkville. The company did continue operations at its Follansbee coke plant in a reduced capacity.
Conners previously said all but one of more than 300 union workers voted to eliminate 66 jobs as part of an agreement with Severstal to restart the plant. Though Conners and company officials are mum on how many will get back to work at Yorkville, Conners said full production capacity at the plant would call for 225 employees.
"I cannot say just how many will eventually get to work. (Severstal) will bring the maintenance people in first to get things back in order," he said. "I would expect us to start turning over product later in the week of Dec. 13."
The company said demand for cold rolled and coated steel products is increasing. Operations at Yorkville will provide Severstal increased rolling capacity, and strike a balance in the company's supply and finishing abilities.
Though he knows economic volatility provides an uncertain future, Conners insists he and his fellow employees are working as hard as they can to keep their jobs.
"We have every intention of making this a long-term deal. We hope the company will work with us to make that happen," he said.
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oldsteelmaker
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11-27-09 12:20 PM
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If Nucor can make a hot rolled sheet coil for $460 a ton, and Mingo can make it for $500 a ton, and the market is paying $495 a ton... Nucor prospers, and WP dies. Nucor can continue to modernize, WP can't. Nucor can get its costs down another $2, and can afford to lower the price to get more of the orders. Simple economics, no hidden books, no conspiracies to defraud the workers, just the painful truth. Aliquippa, Youngstown, Benwood, Allenport, Monessen, Duquesne, Homestead, Canton, Johnstown, Bethlehem, Lackawanna... Are you ready to add Mingo Junction, Martins Ferry and Yorkville to that list?
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oldsteelmaker
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11-27-09 12:00 PM
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If the EPA will not allow the BOF to run, why did WP spend all that money to fix up the blast furnace? Oh, maybe that was part of the improvements CSM and Essar planned, that the union opposed. Severstal is run by realists. Right now the union is in bad shape with all the shutdowns in the industry, and will talk rationally about things like 20% staff reductions such as Yorkville without a fuss. They are hoping to get enough orders to justify starting the hot mill soon. So why rock the boat now? After all, they have to justify to their stockholders paying over a billion for some coke overns and a bunch of idle buildings with big tax bills. Creating union problems now would be a real dumb move. The smart ones to do it would be the local workers. If you could make Mingo non-union, it would be a lower cost producer than Dearborn, so the orders would be made here instead. But of course the union reps and brothers-in-law would lose their jobs; we can't have that.
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oldsteelmaker
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11-27-09 11:44 AM
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Traps, I worked in the biz for thirty years, and ran an arc furnace at one point, one of the few in an integrated/steelworker-operated plant. And an EAF doesn't "make" steel, it melts existing steel. A BOF makes steel. As for that comment about running slabs, I believe what I actually said was "So Severstal will MAKE some slabs from the EAF, and RUN Mountain State until Obie and Company pass Cap and Destroy." Are you dyslexic?
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traps551
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11-27-09 10:16 AM
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Oldsteelmaker, Mingo won't restart their blast furnace without the BOF. Can't run the BOF because of the EPA. Do you know what an EAF does?? It makes steel, which is turned into slabs, not run slabs as you mentioned. As for what the Union will do, well nobody and I mean nobody has last medical insurance yet, and most members still have SUB pay to go along with their state unemployment. Would not have those benefits if not for the Union. Check your facts.
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oldsteelmaker
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11-27-09 12:35 AM
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Traps, nonsense. Just the jobs they plan to get rid of anyway will be gone. Face it, the blast furnace is a high cost item. Dearborn and Sparrows Point are on deep water, so shipping ore is cheap. Mingo and Warren use rail for ore, higher cost. Allenport was one of the main things that killed WP. VERY obsolete, unproductive equipment, rotten work attitude, and 100 miles by truck to Martins Ferry. 1 coil out, deadhead back. Why? The union kept them open, instead of moving the jobs to Steubenville. If that was done back in the 90's, WP would have been profitable for most of that decade, and not needed Esmark. So Severstal will make some slabs from the EAF, and run Mountain State until Obie and Company pass Cap and Destroy. Yorkville will fill a niche for a while. Mingo may roll slabs made somewhere else, and cast wide ones if needed, when the economy improves. Don't hold your breath. How will the union help any of this? They can't. Just siphon off some dues.
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traps551
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11-21-09 8:38 AM
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oldsteelmaker, the people in wheeling knew what kind of protection they had when they signed on as management. if we'd decertify with this company, it would be potatoes and vodka all around. severstal has a lot of kgb in them. decertify and all jobs would be gone.
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traps551
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11-21-09 8:34 AM
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trollslayer, great name. dungeons and dragons??real mature. members don't make stupid comments, just looking for information. outsiders like you, well that's different. that's just recreation.
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oldsteelmaker
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11-21-09 12:04 AM
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All sarcasm aside, I'm glad to see someone getting back to work. Now if you were smart enough to decertify the union, you might be able to get the rest of them back working. Too bad the folks in Wheeling will never get their jobs back. Oh well, they weren't union, so who cares, right?
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oldsteelmaker
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11-21-09 12:00 AM
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Trolll, that stupid letter Domenick signed was nothing but political grandstanding. The state has absolutely zero right to compel sale of the mills. Eminent domain has no legal precedent for this case. Severstal could sell every machine in the building for scrap, and they would have no legal position to block it. Funny, how solidarity goes out the window when you get a little hard up. What happens to the 66, do they get their pensions early? Bet they want a refund on their union dues. Speaking of which, how ARE those contract talks going? Big raises coming yet?
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TrollSlayer
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11-20-09 11:18 PM
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traps551, how about members who make stupid comments about you breaking kneecaps? ‘Cause if you don’t break members kneecaps but you do break kneecaps of those who make stupid comments about you breaking kneecaps, then a member who makes stupid comments about you breaking kneecaps would present quite a paradox. Capiche? Better go ask the big Boss about that one.
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traps551
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11-20-09 5:42 PM
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nah, Trollslayer, we don't break our members kneecaps. we just break the kneecaps of those who make stupid comments about us breaking kneecaps.
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someonesmom
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11-20-09 12:27 PM
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That one union worker was probably the one that lost his job - permanently.
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trolll
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11-20-09 11:19 AM
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Great news! Here is to hoping that other idled plants in the area are also reopened. Hey, you don't suppose Severstal did this to keep Domenick from selling their plants do you?
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TrollSlayer
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11-20-09 9:47 AM
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"Conners previously said all but one of more than 300 union workers voted to eliminate 66 jobs" And one union worker was found with his kneecaps broken.
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wonderwhy
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11-20-09 8:17 AM
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good
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