Buffalo News (New York), December 22, 2008, Monday

Copyright 2008 The Buffalo News
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Buffalo News (New York)

December 22, 2008, Monday
CENTRAL EDITION

SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE; Pg. A10

HEADLINE: The long goodbye; ArcelorMittal's demise echoes the past while documenting the cost of recession

BODY:
In these days, when giant companies routinely announce job cuts by the thousands, the 260 jobs being lost when the ArcelorMittal plant in Lackawanna closes in April might not register on the economic misery scale.

But it resonates in these parts, where mighty Bethlehem Steel once employed more than 20,000 people and helped build the area's middle class. And it serves as an example of manufacturing in the modern world, where interconnec-tedness opens formerly local industries to the vagaries of the global marketplace.

The ArcelorMittal Lackawanna plant won a "Champions at Work" award from the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations for its labor/management cooperation. Still, the Lackawanna plant succumbed to the same macroeconomics affecting the manufacturing and other industries. It is, as William Pienta, the United Steelworkers of America district director said, ". . . a direct result of the financial crisis we're in," involving the automotive industry which, in this case, was the lifeblood of the plant.

On a nostalgic note, the plant closing also marks the end to the last line that could be directly drawn to Bethlehem Steel's former operations. (The steel bar mill still operating was closed by Bethlehem Steel before being bought, breaking its direct lineage.)

Union members had just concluded collective bargaining for a master agreement with ArcelorMittal, but today's steel industry has changed, dramatically. The industry has gone from operating mills at full capacity to about 65 percent. There are 29 blast furnaces left in the United States, with all but nine expected to close.

Steelworkers have long complained about the nation's economic policies that depended upon credit and became unsustainable. And, as Pienta said, it is increasingly difficult to run an economy without making anything.

Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Buffalo, points out that steel workers don't just represent people who make steel but almost all the other parts of a car: rubber, glass, steel and a large amount of chemicals. It is impossible to ignore the ramifications of one individual product, steel, being hurt in an economic downturn and outsourcing.

The consequences of moving manufacturing overseas to cheaper labor radiate far beyond the manufacturing jobs, themselves, sending tremors through the suppliers, engineers and designers, accountants and finance types. It isn't just the blue-collar worker on the line, but a large number of people in a variety of jobs.

The Lackawanna plant is a small example of a larger picture. And in ArcelorMittal's case, it had shut down so much of the other products that the company was getting raw material from Cleveland and sending it here and putting on the galvanized coating and sending it back to Cleveland.

The workers tried hard to help themselves and others, putting money from their own paychecks into supporting Bethlehem retirees. Now, they're going to need the money to help save themselves.

LOAD-DATE: December 22, 2008