BY ANDREA HOLECEK, Times of Northwest Indiana
holecek@nwitimes.com
U.S. Steel Corp. is offering early retirement packages to salaried, nonunion workers who meet certain age and years of service requirements, the company confirmed Tuesday.
It's the latest in an attempt to cut costs as the economy plummets, taking the fortunes of the steel industry with it.
"The offer is the result of market conditions and our efforts to bring our costs in line with customer orders and production levels," U.S. Steel spokesman John Armstrong said.
The offer was made to eligible workers on Monday and Tuesday, he said.
"They are targeted, voluntary early retirements being offered for a limited time to reduce our U.S. non-represented work force," Armstrong said. "They are being made to everyone over a certain age and years of service."
As of November, the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker had 26,840 domestic employees. Generally, about 25 percent of the company's workers are salaried, Armstrong said.
Armstrong declined to say how many of the salaried employees are eligible for the early retirement offer.
U.S. Steel has 5,990 workers in Northwest Indiana: 4,720 employees at Gary Works, 340 at East Chicago Tin and 930 at its Midwest mill in Portage, Armstrong said.
The company is not disclosing any other details of the offer except that those eligible must decide whether to accept or decline it within "the next couple of weeks," he said.
As steel demand dropped as a result of the global economic crisis, the steelmaker has taken several steps to cut production and limit losses, including cutting all but essential contractors and temporarily idling equipment and facilities.
In November, U.S. Steel announced it was cutting production and laying off 677 workers at its U.S. and Canadian operations, including 58 employees at Gary Works iron and steel producing operations and another 17 on the plant's finishing side.
A month later, the company announced it was consolidating operations because of market conditions and temporarily idling Keetac, an iron ore mining and pelletizing facility in Minnesota, Great Lakes Works near Detroit, and Granite City Works near St. Louis. The action affected about 3,500 union and nonunion workers.