Welcome Back, Stelco

[adam]

Why is Siemens the only company that can take part in that kind of thing? Doesn't Stelco have any tool and die workers?

[flar]

Stelco makes the steel, then it is shipped to other factories to be turned into other products.

For example, my father in law used to work at a place that made leaf springs for trucks, they got some of their steel from Stelco. That factory closed a few years ago, which is an example showing another lost customer for Stelco and the overall decline of manufacturing in Ontario.

[FairHamilton]

US infrastructure stimulus spending on structures such as bridges, apparently has a component that all steel must come from the US. Not good for Hamilton.

[flar]

The Americans like having a double standard when it comes to free trade. Not good for us, but good for them. Our government could take a lesson. Personally, I've always been in favour of protecting our interests and industries, but our government seems to like selling off our wealth.

[adam]

Obama seems to be a protectionist

[SteelTown]

There was a steel traffic during Bush Jr's time. EU killed it.

It's Sentators that add these clause into the bill not Obama. I believe it was North Dakota's Senator that included the American steel. He's not a friend to Canada, look over his track on mad cow scare over US/Canada relationship.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

US infrastructure stimulus spending on structures such as bridges, apparently has a component that all steel must come from the US. Not good for Hamilton.

Unless of course our government gets smart and does the same thing.

[adam]

Are you suggesting that Obama does not have a protectionist stance?
Look at this: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...3?hub=Politics

and watch this: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=AkWEwwLBuvs
where he is quoted as saying "Now I didn't just start criticizing unfair trade deals like NAFTA"
Maybe he's right, but 85% of our exports go to the US.

[SteelTown]

US STEEL SHUTTING DOWN HAMILTON WORKS

March 03, 2009

The move that could affect 2,100 workers, although the precise total is not yet known.

The company has already laid off close to 700 workers in Hamilton, where it shut down its blast furnace in November.  The company plans to keep the coke ovens in Lake Erie active, Gerstenberger says.

 Check back with thespec.com for updates of this story

[Atticus]

word on the street has US Steel announcing the closure of Hilton Works and Lake Erie at 5pm today. Stay tuned.

[SteelTown]

US STEEL SHUTTING DOWN CANADIAN OPERATIONS
March 03, 2009



BY NAOMI POWELL
Hamilton Spectator




U.S. Steel Canada is completely shutting down in Hamilton and will close most of its Lake Erie operations, the Spectator has learned. The move is believed to be temporary and driven by slumping demand in the steel sector.

Union leaders say they were notified of the plan by company officials at about 3 p.m.

 "It's devastating for the community," said Bill Ferguson, leader of the United Steelworkers union in Lake Erie. "For the local people this will be quite a blow. This plant, Lake Erie, has never shut down in its history."

The move that could affect 2,100 workers  although the precise total is not yet known.


The company has already laid off close to 700 workers  of 1,700 hourly staff in Hamilton, where it shut down its blast furnace in November.  The company plans to keep the coke ovens in Lake Erie active, Ferguson says.

 The company is slated to make a formal announcement at 5 p.m.

 Check back with thespec.com for updates of this story

[SteelTown]

This will have a more harmful effect to the Norfolk Haldimand region.

[MsMe]

March 03, 2009
BY NAOMI POWELL
Hamilton Spectator

U.S. Steel Canada is shutting down its Hamilton and Lake Erie operations, putting 1,500 employees out of work.


Operations will be halted over the next several weeks as Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel consolidates production at its plants in Pittsburgh, Indiana and Alabama.


"The difficult decision to continue to temporarily consolidate our production, we believe, is a necessary response to current market conditions," U. S. Steel CEO John Surma said in a release.


Comment on this story. Click here

Union leaders at the former Stelco, who were notified of the plan at about 3 p.m., say they have not been told when the layoffs will take effect or when operations will resume.


"It's devastating for the community," said Bill Ferguson, leader of the United Steelworkers union at Lake Erie. "For the local people this will be quite a blow. This plant, Lake Erie, has never shut down in its history."


The steel industry has been hit by one of the worst downturns in demand in decades. With the global economy tanking, orders from key buyers in the construction and auto industries have flatlined.


Steelmakers around the world have been slashing production and laying off workers in response.


U.S. Steel Canada has already cut close to 700 of its 1,700 hourly workers in Hamilton, where it shut down its blast furnace in November.


The remaining operations at the plant, including its steel finishing lines and coke ovens, will now be closed as well, said Rolf Gerstenberger, president of the United Steelworkers union at the plant.


All operations at Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, except for the coke ovens, will also close.


“This is awful for Hamilton and it shouldn’t be allowed,” Gerstenberger said. "Layoffs are not solutions. They only make things worse.”


Unions will soon be holding meetings to inform members of the details of the shutdown.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said he was called by a U.S. Steel Canada representative this afternoon to warn him about the impending announcement.


“I was stunned,” he said, noting he has family working at the company, a connection he suspects many Hamiltonians also have. “It’s hitting pretty close to home.”


Eisenberger said he’s urging the federal government to deal with its employment insurance issues quickly. He added that the temporary shutdown “screams out” for the need for immediate infrastructure spending to help the troubled economy.


“The good news is this is not a shutdown. This is an idling,” he said. “This is not the end of the steel industry in Hamilton.”

Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel bought Stelco for $1.9 billion in 2007.


npowell@thespec.com
905-526-4620


http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/523437

[emge]

Of course this is wretched in the short-term, and my heart goes out to the families affected by this. And of course, there is a need for jobs to be created for those workers that utilize their skills.

If it turns out to be a permanent shutdown, however, I still see this as one of the biggest opportunities to grab a chunk of waterfront property in the GTA and change Hamilton for the good that anyone's heard of in a long time. (And it would eventually create far more than 1400 new jobs). Add on the little industrial area between that and Bayfront Park for good measure, give them and the Lakeport folks incentive to move... the economy starts up again... the possibilities in three, five, ten years.

[urban_planner]

Should this be permenant like I suspect it will be this is a massive opportunity for Hamilton. I can't even begin to explain it to anyone who doesn't know why. I feel for the people effect but common Hamilton it time to move forward and onto new and exciting things.

[graupner]

Maybe on the very long term it is a good( 20,30 years ?) but within the next 10-15 years, this is very bad news.

Considering all the suppliers and the reliying factories, this could be very well somewhere around 5,000 well paid jobs lost in a city of 690k.

The tax base for the city is going to shrink rapidly. these industries are by far the largest taxpayers.

Just look at cities in Belgium who lost their steel mills, 20 years later they're still wondering...

[flar]

This is the culmination of many years of decline for Stelco. There have been recent years where over 10,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Hamilton. People have known this was coming. This will be painful, but the worst has already happened.

[SteelTown]

If Stelco was to shut down permenantly 2,100 would lose their job? Stelco really shrinked down in recent years.

[Millstone]

Time for Harry Stinson to whip up an offer to buy some waterfront.

Just saying.

[isaidso]

OMG. Stelco and Dofasco have really played their hands poorly. It's entirely feasible to operate a profitable and strong steel maker in Canada, but you need to produce the highest value added steel possible and invest in the factory, r&d, and innovation. There are lots of steel production that still occur in the US, France, Germany, etc.

Stelco has simply made really bad choices and selling to a foreign company like US Steel was the last straw. If you're going to risk becoming a periphery operation by selling to a foreign firm, you better make sure it's to one of the strong global producers who are gaining global market share, not one that is shrinking.

If Stelco was still independent, do you think production would be shifting offshore? Nope, 100% of their efforts would be directed towards improving the Hamilton steel plant. It's absurd that Ottawa is contemplating giving billions of dollars to foreign auto makers like Ford and GM, when a firm like Stelco is in trouble.

Every significant country in the world needs a sizable industrial sector. The steel industry is at the very root of this. Once that goes, skills in all kinds of trades, jobs, and other manufacturing leaves the country as well. Once it's gone, it's next to impossible to get it back again. The idea that western nations don't need an industrial sector is really misguided and foolish. Post industrial economy?

Britain realized a while ago how important it was not to lose the ability to make products domestically and has been feverishly trying to reverse de-industrialization in the UK. We need to do the same. Not everything should be imported from China. If that comes to pass, we will one day find ourselves in a position where we can't afford to buy the Chinese products we import. We'll have turned ourselves into a poor country.

Ottawa needs to re-patriate Stelco, stop any production from being transferred to US plants, then pour money into this firm to turn it around. GM can screw off. So can US Steel.