By Andrea Holecek, Times of Northwest Indiana
andrea.holecek@nwi.com
Catastrophic equipment failure, maintenance issues and the economic downturn could mean hundreds of more layoffs at two different region steel operations, company and union officials said Monday.
Blast furnace No. 14 at U.S. Steel Corp. Gary Works had a catastrophic failure Sunday afternoon, which could put it out of commission for months and cause the layoffs of scores of workers in the plant's iron and steel producing departments, said Jerry Littles, president of United Steelworkers Local 1014.
Littles said a 3-foot-by-18-inch hole was burned through the furnace's hearth almost instantaneously to the vessel's thermal couplings.
"There's excessive damage," Littles said. "Right now, we're still trying to determine the amount and how it happened. We're not talking days to repair, we're talking months."
Littles wouldn't speculate on how the furnace's failure would affect employment of his union members, other than to say it could cause a great loss.
"You're probably going to see layoffs," he said.
U.S. Steel spokeswoman Erin DiPietro could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
ArcelorMittal union and company officials also confirmed Monday that the company is taking down the only blast furnace operating at its Indiana Harbor West plant in East Chicago for maintenance, a move that could result in layoffs for hundreds of steelworkers.
Repairs could last up to three months, said Tom Tyrka, president of United Steelworkers Local 1011.
"They're going to blow down the furnace slowly over a three-week period," Tyrka said. "We're in discussions with the company on a layoff minimization plan."
Tyrka, who said steel orders currently are "nonexistent" in the stagnant economy, said workers will be laid off incrementally as the furnace is taken down.
He said he doesn't know the total number of his members who could be laid off when the furnace is idled, but idling it for any period has the potential to affect as many as 400 to 600 of the local's 1,350 members, including those working in iron making, steel production, the galvanizing line and the finishing mill.
ArcelorMittal spokeswoman Katie Patterson confirmed Monday that the No. 4 needs maintenance on some components.
"We have begun preparations to stop the furnace, and we are evaluating our options for maintenance and responding to lack of demand for our products," Patterson said in an e-mail to The Times.
"Layoff minimization plans are being developed with Steelworkers Local 1011. We remain in close collaboration with key stake-holders, including the USW and our employees, and will take appropriate measures to keep the company well positioned moving forward."
Steel analyst Charles Bradford said if the Indiana Harbor West furnace needs a complete reline, "this is the time to do it."
"You don't want to have to do a reline when you need the capacity," he said.
Since November, ArcelorMittal has was cut its work force at all three region plants and at its Riverdale, Ill., facility through both voluntary and involuntary layoffs in order to balance supply with falling demand. Last week, it announced it would lay off 400 employees from its Indiana Harbor Long Carbon facility in the next few months.