U.S. Steel to potentially see more layoffs in the coming months

Employees at the Lone Star plant were advised on Jan. 8 that Lone Star Tubular Operations may be adjusting operations, according to US Steel External Communications and Community Affairs contact Jessica Franklin. The possibility of adjusted operations is part of an ongoing adjustment to operations due to challenging market conditions, including fluctuating oil prices, reduced rig counts, depressed steel prices and unfairly traded imports. All of these factors continue to reduce demand for tubular goods. Any operating adjustment could potentially affect 677 employees in the area. Franklin said “All employees, including management and represented employees, were issued WARN notices.” WARN stands for “Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification,” and is used to alert employees for the potential of operational or employment adjustments. According to Franklin, any adjustment to operations would be temporary. ”If operational adjustments do occur, they would be temporary,” said Franklin, adding that coinciding layoffs are not a definite occurrence planned at the present time. When asked if layoffs were definite, Franklin said “No, they are not definite. All employees have been issued WARN notices. Impacted employees will be put on layoff if operational adjustments occur. The Lone Star Tubular Operations WARN notice states that the layoffs could take effect on or after March 13.” In reports published on the website fuelfix.com, in an article entitled “U.S. Steel may cut nearly 700 Texas jobs,” the following statement was published: “On Wednesday, the Texas Workforce Commission released a letter from U.S. Steel Corp. announcing the elimination of nearly 700 jobs near the small city of Lone Star near the Louisiana and Arkansas borders.” When asked about this information, Franklin said, “We have not been provided with a copy of the letter and do not know where it exists.”