ECORSE, Mich. (WXYZ) — The United States Steel Corporation plans to indefinitely idle a significant portion of its Great Lakes Works operation.
The company says it will be issuing Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices to approximately 1,545 employees at Great Lakes Works.
The iron and steelmaking facilities will be idled around April 1, 2020, and the Hot Strip Mill rolling facility will be idled before the end of 2020.
“In order to further accelerate our strategy of creating a world-competitive ‘best of both’ U. S. Steel, we must make deliberate but difficult operational decisions," said U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt. "In this case, current market conditions and the long-term outlook for Great Lakes Works made it imperative that we act now, allowing us to better align our resources to deliver cost or capability differentiation across our footprint."
“We are conscious of the impact this decision will have on our employees, their families, and the local community, and we are announcing it now to provide them with as much time as possible to prepare for this transition,” Burritt said. “These decisions are never easy, nor are they taken lightly."
Information about the full benefits and support for affected employees, including continued health coverage and temporary wage replacement, can be found here.
