[Tin]
100 years of operations at Weirton
Release date: 18 Aug 2009
itri.co.uk
Officials at the ArcelorMittal Weirton steel mill expressed optimism Friday about the future of their tin mill plant, while celebrating a century of operations in the northern West Virginia community, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. "We're absolutely optimistic about the future of ArcelorMittal. We've improved delivery and improved quality performance," said Brian James, general manager at the plant.
"ArcelorMittal is committed to us, and they've made that very clear. We did not know that for a while," said Mark Glyptis, president of the United Steelworkers Local 2911, which represents the plant's workers. Glyptis and James claimed that operations at Weirton, which has about 1,025 active employees, are better than its competitors at U.S. Steel Corp. and Severstal North America. "We're Number 1," Glyptis said.
While plant officials are optimistic about the future, ArcelorMittal is suffering along with the rest of the global steel industry. The plant is operating at only about 50 percent capacity, which is about 6 or 7 percent better than it was earlier this year. That's about 30 percent below the normal operating rate, said James, who will mark his fourth year as general manager this fall. Unlike some steel companies that have laid off hundreds of employees, ArcelorMittal Weirton has made only about 11 "involuntary layoffs," James said, while between 100 and 120 employees are constantly on "voluntary furlough" that may last three or four weeks at a time. They are eligible for unemployment compensation, along with supplemental unemployment benefits, James said. |
