The nation’s economic troubles are being felt by the steel industry, including at mills in Northwest Indiana.
Revenues are down and so are orders for the two major steel manufactures with plants in Northwest Indiana: ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel Corporation.
That’s forcing both companies to take action. At U.S. Steel, which operates a major facility in Gary, more than 800 contractors are no longer working at the mill. That’s being left to the plant’s 4,000 employees.
ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, operates three mills in the area: in East Chicago, Burns Harbor and south suburban Riverdale, Illinois.
The company is also trimming back the use of contractors, and is looking for 500 employees at its Burns Harbor mill to take voluntary layoffs. Those layoffs would be temporary, according to the local union.
So far, neither company has announced plans for mandatory layoffs.