As a Weirton grow closed last year, hundreds of West Virginia workers were rehired in search of work in a labour market with reduced wages. The federal government has rejected imposing tariffs on cheap imported iron, which has caused the plant to close.
” It’s a difficult position. We’ve always preferred to work directly and earn a respectable pay. Everything]else ] around here is a 40 percent give slice”, Dan Strapazzon, 41 years older, told the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette about finding a new job.
Strapazzon, along with about 900 people, were told in February they may be laid off at Weirton ‘s , Cleveland- Cliffs Inc. iron flower.
According to executives, the reason for the closure is because the United States International Trade Commission ( ITC ) disputed that the Commerce Department had the right to impose tariffs on cheaply imported tin products from Canada, China, Germany, and South Korea.
The ITC unexpectedly ruled against the imposition of tariffs, keeping the unequal playing field in place, and making it impossible for us to create tinplate, according to professionals from Cleveland-Clinton in a statement about the flower closing.
Some Cleveland-Cliffs employees who had been laid off last year made their way to a career fair in the hopes of finding work with comparable pay and benefits outside. Some of the workers worried about the industry’s instability causing them to leave the sector immediately.
” Up to this point, it’s provided a wonderful life for me, my relatives, and my relatives”, Josh Martin, 28 years old, told the Post- Gazette. ” But now it seems like every two decades something’s closing”.
Many visitors in Weirton, who rely on work in supporting business, hope the iron plant will resume under new management.
Mark Glyptis, president of Local United Steelworkers ( USW) 2911 ), claims he is talking with ERMCO, the transformer manufacturer, and Cleveland- Cliffs and   about retooling the facility so that electrical components can be produced.
The” Godsend” thought would take anywhere from 800 to 1, 000 work back to Weirton, according to Glyptis.
” It’s a large purchase”, Glyptis said. There is a very large amount of high-tech electronic equipment that needs to be purchased and installed, in addition to the fact that it is a very large investment to change this factory into making transformers. There’s some lead time in doing that with this gear, but it’s a very good company to get in”.
For Breitbart News, John Binder is a columnist. Email him at [email protected]. Following him on Twitter , around.
