ArcelorMittal.........................................................
Tin Production Going Strong for Weirton
By Casey Junkins, Wheeling News Register, 5/1/09
Mark Glyptis, president of United Steelworkers Local 2911, said the future is bright for ArcelorMittal Weirton.
WEIRTON - Mark Glyptis said when you open a can of soup, there is a good chance some of the 1,041 employees of ArcelorMittal Weirton made the tin used to form the container.
Glyptis, president of United Steelworkers Local 2911, said about 100 of those employees - 921 of whom are union members with 120 in management - are now "voluntarily" laid off, with another 11 "involuntarily" separated from employment in an effort to save global steel giant ArcelorMittal money during the economic downturn.
And numbers released this week by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal show the international company lost $1.1 billion during the first three months of this year after finishing the first quarter of 2008 with a $2.37 billion profit.
But Glyptis believes ArcelorMittal as a whole - and especially the plant known as Weirton Steel Corp. until 2005 - is in a prime position to thrive in the coming years.
"Mr. Mittal is a tremendous businessman. ... I have full confidence in his ability to guide us through these difficult economic times," Glyptis offered.
As for the Weirton plant itself, Glyptis said tin yields are "higher now that at any time I can remember," though he said company regulations forbid him from releasing specific production figures.
"We are very fortunate to have the tin production we have because the tin business is very viable in a down economy," he said, noting he believes this is because people are more likely to purchase canned foods during an economic slowdown.
And Glyptis said the Weirton plant can grow to become an even better tin mill.
"There is a tremendous opportunity in Weirton. ... Our long-term goal is to be the best tin producer in North America," he said.
Though he is upbeat about the present and future viability of ArcelorMittal Weirton, Glyptis acknowledges some take a more pessimistic view.
"Obviously, we experienced a great deal of pain when we lost our hot mill. We did everything we could to keep it going, but it just did not happen," he said.
At its height, Weirton Steel Corp. employed more than 11,000 people, but Glyptis knows a number like this will never be approached again.
"This town grew up around this mill, but you have to diversify at some point. ... You can either give up and say, 'We lost,' or you can say, 'Let's make the best of what we have here now," he said.
And Glyptis is confident that bright days lie ahead for the Weirton mill - he believes ArcelorMittal will eventually hire employees to replace retiring workers and expand production.
"There is tremendous opportunity for growth here. ... Within the next five years, I believe we will see significant growth," he said of both the plant and the rest of the city.
"The art of steelmaking today is much more complicated and technical than in previous generations. It takes a great deal of training for people to do this work today because they need to have technical skills and knowledge of computers," Glyptis said.
To help train Weirton's next generation of steelworkers, Glyptis said he would like to team with Hancock County Schools to implement a vocational apprenticeship program.
"We have a great deal of knowledge among our current work force, but many of us are going to be retiring soon. So we would like to be able to pass along some of our knowledge to help the young people as we begin to hand the plant over to them,"
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