ArcelorMittal planning 400 layoffs in East Chicago

By Bowdeya Tweh, Times of Northwest Indiana
bowdeya.tweh@nwi.com

EAST CHICAGO | ArcelorMittal plans to lay off 400 employees from its Indiana Harbor Long Carbon facility in the next few months.

ArcelorMittal sent a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act notice Monday to the United Steelworkers and other stakeholders, a company spokesperson said.

"The global economic downturn has caused a reduction in the demand for the company's products," the company said in a statement. "Volumes are down significantly and market conditions remain weak.

"This indefinite closure and corresponding layoffs reflect measures the company is being forced to take around the world to adapt to the market."

USW District 7 Director Jim Robinson acknowledged the union received the notice and said both union and nonunion employees would be affected. Robinson said the company had to give at least 60 days notice with the filing. The move halts steel bar manufacturing at the facility.

Robinson said it's never easy to have employees laid off, but it's a reality steelworkers have dealt with in the economic downturn.

He said the domestic steel industry is working at only about 40 percent capacity, a level not seen since the 1930s.

Tom Hargrove, president of USW Local 1010, couldn't be reached for comment late Monday night. The local represents about 3,550 workers out of roughly 5,000 at the company's Indiana Harbor East plant.

Layoffs already have affected dozens of employees this year at the Indiana Harbor East plant because of reduced steel demand.

The company pledged to continue working with the union to minimize the impact on employees and their families.