GRANITE CITY — The Illinois Department of Labor said Thursday that it has issued a subpoena to U.S. Steel, in an effort to determine whether the company properly notified Granite City workers ahead of hundreds of layoffs.
The company announced in September that it planned to idle the last operating blast furnace at the plant, and some 400 workers would be temporarily laid off. The company attributed the move to the United Auto Workers strike, which had just begun a few days earlier, and said it expected the furnace would be idled for less than six months.
Under the state and federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification requirements, businesses must notify workers and state and local agencies, in certain circumstances, ahead of mass layoffs. The federal WARN Act is usually not triggered by layoffs lasting less than six months. Illinois’ state WARN Act also defines loss of employment as a layoff that exceeds six months.
People are also reading…
The auto workers reached new tentative labor deals and began returning to work at the end of October.
But on Tuesday, U.S. Steel said it was extending the shutdown of the blast furnace beyond the expected six months, and that the furnace would be idled “indefinitely.†The company sent WARN notices to workers and government agencies, advising that an additional 600 employees were at risk of layoffs.
The company said it expected that, of the 1,000 total workers who had received notices, 60% might ultimately be affected. Steel rolling and finishing operations at the site will continue, using metal slabs from other facilities.
A company spokeswoman said in an email Thursday that the blast furnace was initially idled due to the autoworkers’ strike, and the decision to extend the shutdown was made because the company can meet customer demand through its other sites.
U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Illinois, had called for the state labor department to look into the issue. On Thursday morning, Budzinski sent a letter to the department’s director, requesting that she open an investigation into whether the company appropriately followed the WARN Act.
The company did not file a WARN notice in September. The Illinois labor department said it was first notified of layoffs at the plant on Tuesday.
“The lack of WARN notice in September left 400 employees, their families and the Granite City community without the dignity, respect and time to prepare that they deserve,†Budzinski wrote.
The department said in a press release that businesses that fail to provide proper notice under the WARN Act can be liable for back pay and benefits, plus civil penalties of up to $500 for each day of the violation.
The possibility of reductions at the Granite City plant has loomed since last summer, when U.S. Steel revealed plans to sell a portion of the facility to Chicago-based SunCoke Energy in a deal that would eliminate nearly 1,000 of 1,450 jobs at the plant. The companies are still in discussion, and no final agreement has been announced.
Lending further uncertainty to the situation, over the past few months multiple companies have made offers to buy U.S. Steel. The company said in August that it was reviewing its options, and has not made any public announcements about a sale agreement.