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October 18, 2007
WEIRTON -- The shut down of the hot mill operation at the former Weirton Steel will mean the loss of about 265 jobs, according to West Virginia's senior senator.
In August, Arcelor Mittal officials told United Steelworkers Local No. 2911 that the hot mill is not in the company's 2008 business plan and will be shut down at the end of December. But it had not said how many jobs would be lost in the move.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. said Wednesday he learned from the company that the closure will cost at least 250 hourly and 15 salaried positions.
"Frankly, I find it hard to fathom how the Mittal family, with all of its wealth, knowledge and expertise, cannot invest sufficiently in Weirton to keep these people employed,'' Byrd said in a statement.
Calls to Arcelor Mittal and to the union were not immediately returned Wednesday night.
After years of deep financial losses, Weirton Steel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2003 and was sold twice in 18 months, first to International Steel Group, then to Mittal.
No raw steel has been made since 2005, and the mills that once employed 13,000 people now employ just 1,250.
Earlier this year, Mittal considered selling Weirton. But federal regulators ultimately ordered the sale of the Sparrows Point mill in Maryland to settle antitrust concerns over the merger of Mittal Steel Co. and Arcelor SA.
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