Steel mill to close, union chief says
GEORGETOWN — The leader of the union at the Georgetown Steel mill said there is no way to prevent the mill from closing later this month.
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported that United Steelworkers 7898 President James Sanderson said time has run out for workers and the mill to reach an agreement to keep the mill open after July 12.
Mill owner ArcelorMittal is shutting down the facility indefinitely because the economic downturn has diminished the need for steel.
Sanderson said union members rejected a proposal from the mill owners to take a $3.65 per hour pay cut and work just 24 hours per week during slow periods.
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omarro1974 (anonymous) says...
Guess what? If they couldn't make those two concessions, they don't deserve a job.
They are about to take a 100 percent pay cut and work up to zero hours a week.
July 3, 2009 at 2:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MC29461 (anonymous) says...
Just when you would expect folks to recognize the impacts of this inflationary period in our economy, the union bosses would rather see complete unemployment than risk being perceived as weak.
The union leaders will get rewarded with full pay while the rank and file members get warm memories of supporting the union cause while being unemployed.
And now the government gives the United Auto Workers, 55 percent ownership of Chrysler???
July 3, 2009 at 6:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MP (anonymous) says...
Blind, stupid loyalty to a Union got these employees what? NO JOB! Now they can join their fellow Union members in the airline, apparel, steel, auto, etc., etc., industries in the unemployment line. Guess what their Union bosses will be doing? Continuing to live the good life on the dues the members have been paying all their lives.
All of you loyal union members come on here and post how you feel about the Union a year AFTER you lose your job because your Union wanted to continue to blackmail and extort.
July 3, 2009 at 7:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alnb4real (anonymous) says...
That same attitude has affected the economy. No wonder US companies are heading to other countries. Unions used to stand for something good when it first started out to protect worker's rights. Now it's just based on enrollment fees and more money. I wish the best wishes for the company on its new ventures.
July 3, 2009 at 7:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
useyourbrain (anonymous) says...
Who cares, lets's say the Steel Mill didn't have
union workers like the banks and just decided that the business climate was to week and they shut down. Who's fault would it be then? it's amazing how unamerican so many of us have become. It's their choice to quit and that's
about as "American as it gets! You union haters
should cry about something that affects you.
July 3, 2009 at 8:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Puzzled (anonymous) says...
This is nuts. People that post on here are absolutely clueless. The "company" continues to make what they are making. Their profit margin stays the same. They are not taking cuts in profits, they are asking the workers to cut their "profits" and take less pay. If the company cannot make the same percentage of money they have always made - they shut the plant down. And the forever clueless get on here and harp about stuff they know nothing about. How in the world can you expect to continue to live on 24 hours of work as opposed to 40 hours? And at almost $4 less per hour? They are taking the double hit. You can't take a second job to make ends meet because you don't know how many hours you are going to get.
On top of that (or so we are told) the mills are limiting supply in hopes that prices for raw materials will increase. They are cutting capacity so that steel will cost more. So everything that needs steel to be produced is going up in cost. Ugly as it is - that is capitalism. That's how it works. Unions were formed because there was no protection from these types of activities. The members voted to not sign a contract - in this country you are free to do that. The mill has decided not to produce steel. In this country you are free to do that. (Except where the government has taken over) Neither is bad - neither is evil. Would you prefer the government step in and mandate like it does for police and firefighters who don't have collective bargaining rights? And we see where that gets us.
You can't even regulate free speech. Like know what you are talking about before you post on here.
July 3, 2009 at 8:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MC29461 (anonymous) says...
Anyone with half a brain knows the unions use threats and intimidation to keep its membership loyal to their cause even if it requires violent action by their mafia silent partners.
With Obama's union card check program, everything becomes public in which the freedoms of speech and vote are totally eliminated rendering the individual worker powerless to resist a union takeover.
We prefer the right to work as individuals and not have a third party unions tell us what is right or wrong. The freedom to choose where to work is one of our last rights as individuals and now the government seems to be assisting unions trying to kill our right to work as we see fit.
It's about time the Rust Belt union retirees who whine so much about our disgust of unions move back up to the squalor the unions caused in their own hometowns.
July 3, 2009 at 11:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stromthurmond34 (anonymous) says...
yeah. look how great our union free environemnt has done us here!
wretched infrastructure, lowest wages, worst working conditions, worst schools in the nation.
go ahead--cling to your rebel pride and the wages of whiteness you anti-union morons. but you're damning your children and grandchildren to future generations of life on the plantation that is south carolina.
July 3, 2009 at 12:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dadsemt (anonymous) says...
This is the second time the Union in Georgetown has turned down consessions. This will be the second time the mill closes because the union wants it all and the mill can't afford to give it to them. Oh yea you union morons, this is a right-to-work state. They can start back with NO UNION! What then?
July 3, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
omarro1974 (anonymous) says...
I support the unions, but having a piece of a job is better than having none. They were looking for an excuse to close and the union gave it to them. Sometimes it is better to make a tactical retreat.
July 3, 2009 at 5:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MP (anonymous) says...
Puzzled. You did not get too far in your education, did you. Businesses do not stay in business if they cannot make a profit. When we have things like NAFTA, everything that can be produced elsewhere for less money than it can in America goes offshore. If American industry cannot compete and make a profit they disappear. Wages are part of the equation. If a business has to cut costs to stay competitive, wages have to be part of it. If the Union refuses, this is exactly what happens. Make all the excuses you want, blame everyone you want, but the fact is if you do not see what is happening because of Union wage demands you have your head up your rear. If the steel mill could be operated at a profit it would have stayed open.
July 3, 2009 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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