Last Updated on 3/20/2010

Published on 7/1/2009
Written by Scott Harper

There’s virtually no chance of ArcelorMittal-Georgetown remaining open past July 12 but how long it will remain closed is a question that has yet to be answered.
That’s according to James Sanderson, president of the United Steelworkers of America Local 7898.
He met with elected and appointed officials in his office Wednesday to discuss the progress of the negotiations that have been taking place for the past two months.
He said even if a contract agreement is reached between the union membership and the company tomorrow, a temporary shutdown will be required.
“The mill will go down. Make sure that is understood. It will be down for a month or whatever because the raw materials that is not in the plant,” Sanderson said.
The main sticking point between the two sides is a $3.65 per hour pay cut the company is asking workers to take with no promise that money will be returned when market conditions improve.
“When the economy turns around and things snap back, things ought to be returned to the employees,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson also said the company is also not guaranteeing a 40 hour work week for the employees.
He said, under the latest proposal, when things are slow workers may only be on the job for 24 hours in a week.
Negotiations between the union and company officials will continue even after the mill closes July 12.
The contract they are negotiating will not expire until 2012.
Sanderson said he is “ very confident” the mill will reopen but he does not know when.
He said there are more positives this time than when the mill has shut down under previous ownership.
“In the past, when Daniel Thorne purchased the mill, he bought it to shut it down. He wanted to shut it down for development,” Sanderson said, adding there is currently someone else who is “snooping around” who wants the property for development.
Sanderson said he is confident AcelorMittal will not sale the property for that purpose.
“Contrary to what anyone may think, they will not make a decision to sell this plant based on property values.”
There were three reporters covering the meeting. Sanderson entertained questions from two.
He said he would not answer any questions from the Georgetown Times.

  The reason for the meeting
State Rep. Carl Anderson called the meeting which was supposed to be attended by the Legislative Delegation.
Senators Yancey McGill and Ray Cleary were unable to attend. Rep. Vida Miller had to leave before the meeting started to run her business in Murrells Inlet.
County Administrator Sel Hemingway and County Economic Development Director Wayne Gregory were also in attendance.
Anderson said he was assured the union’s vice president, Ed Green, was en route to the meeting but he never showed up.
Anderson said the goal of the Legislative Delegation is to keep the mill running so the 240 employees who depend on the plant will not be out of a job.
“They have mortgages. They have automobile payments. They have children to put through school and college. Their families depend on them working. If we can save 240 jobs, we need to go ahead and do it,” Anderson said.
Miller agreed.
“We simply can not afford to lose any additional jobs or businesses in Georgetown, especially of this magnitude, and I am encouraged that both parties — Arcelor Mittal and union executives — are working to come together on this issue,” she said
Anderson admitted there is very little the Legislative Delegation can do at this point.
“It’s now in the hands of the union and steel mill,” he said.
Hemingway said the closure of the mill will also hurt the port which is already suffering economically.
Both Sanderson and the others agreed the Stimulus money designated for roads and bridges should have a positive impact on the steel industry because those companies will be needed to make the steel for the bridges.
  Chicago meeting
Sanderson also expressed concerns he has about a meeting that Anderson and Gregory attended last week in Chicago with high-ranking ArcelorMittal officials.
Sanderson said earlier this week he was not told about the meeting, which was reported in Monday’s Georgetown Times.
Anderson said he and Gregory went to Chicago to the National Plastics Expo and the ArcelorMittal meeting was set up after they were in the windy city.
“We met with them because of our concerns about Georgetown. The information they shared with us was positive,” Anderson said.
Sanderson said when he read about the meeting, he was under the impression Anderson and Gregory were blaming the union for the mill’s financial crisis.
Hemingway gave his take on the article.
“I read the article as saying we had representatives who were there to express our support of continuing operations here. And in that dialogue, it was said one of the issues they were facing was getting agreement from the local union membership,” Hemingway said. “It was not the intent of any statement to say the county or delegation supports the management’s position. It was reporting what came out of that meeting.”

First reported online at www.gtowntimes.com at 11:20 am. Wednesday.