Congressional Hearing on Destabilized U.S. Steel Industry

The Congressional Steel Caucus, chaired by U.S. Representative Pete Visclosky (D-IN), will hold a hearing in Washington, DC on Tuesday, to listen to testimony from steel industry experts and industry leaders whose testimony will assist Congress' with efforts to help stabilize the U. S. steel industry.

Representative Jerry Costello (D-IL) a member of the Caucus, invited Dan Simmons, President, Local Union 1899, United Steel Workers (USW) to attend and give testimony "about the impact of the 6 month long shut down of the Granite City Works of United States Steel Corporation on the lives of steelworker members, their families, and our community".

At a press conference this morning Dan Simmons said his testimony to the Congressional Steel Caucus will include statements losing good paychecks and health insurance, and "how we felt as we went to the unemployment lines and watched miles and miles of steel pipe imported from India being unloaded in our backyard."

When asked what led to the problems within the U.S steel industry, Mr. Simmons responded by emphatically pointing to glut of steel products imported from countries that subsidize their own steel industries. Such subsidies lower prices on the imported products below the prices our own steel producers can match. Dan said these problems could be solved if trade laws and policies already on the books were enforced, and that, "given a fair playing field U.S. workers will compete with anybody."

Dan, an employee at United States Steel Corporation's Granite City Works in Granite City, IL, said he and other employees were happy that plans were being made to resume some operations at the facility within the next 2 to three weeks. He explained that orders had grow sufficiently to restart the facility that has been idle for 6 months, and that while waiting for the blast furnaces to start producing iron, steel slabs would be shipped in from other U.S. Steel facilities to be used in the Hot Roll department.

However, when asked by electrician Ron Hutson, member of USW Local Union 68 and also employed at Granite City Works, how long it was expected the facility would operate, Dan responded by saying it would depend on how strong and stable the order books remained.

Dave Dowling, USW District 7 Sub District 2 who also attended the press conference, stated that not just employees at Granite City Works were affected by the planned restart. He pointed to the other members of the audience, such as Mike Fultz, a welder who, for the last 6 months has been laid off from his job at Stein Steel Mill Services, a business that directly supports U.S. Steel operations in Granite City.

In closing, Dan Simmons' said that the priorities he will address in his testimony to the Congressional Steel Caucus include support for the trade case against dumped steel pipe from China, and for, "enactment of the Buy American provisions of the Recovery Stimulus Act", and a call to action on enforcing existing trade laws for fair trade and a level worldwide playing field."