ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A day after news came swirling that U.S. Steel was set to idle its last operating blast furnace at the Granite City Works plant, many workers at the facility could be set to receive pink slips as early as Tuesday.
Under the federal 'Warns Act', employers with 100 or more employees must provide 60 days of advanced notice in the event of planned closings and mass layoffs of employees.
However, workers at the Illinois plant, whose workforce is nearly 1,500, could receive their pink slips as early as Tuesday, due to a loophole in the 'Warns Act' that the Pittsburgh-based steel is using, which the employer doesn't have to give 60-day notice if the layoff is for six months or less or if the employer temporary closes a facility, or if the facility is closed due to a strike.
"The magic amount of time is six months," said U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D), "What happened (Monday) in the announcement is that (U.S. Steel)is saying that the (layoff) could be for less than six months, so what that means is pink slips could be given to workers in Granite City (Tuesday)."
So far, no workers at the plant that spoke to KMOX's Sean Malone have been made aware of anybody at the facility have been laid off yet but they say they are awaiting word from their union, who have been in and out of meetings all day long Tuesday.
U.S. Steel said in its statement Monday that the decision to temporarily idle the furnace was due to the ongoing United Auto Workers strike.
“Following the announcement of UAW strike actions, we are executing our risk mitigation plan to ensure our melt capacity is balanced with our order book," U.S. Steel said in its statement Monday.
One worker at the plant thinks that there is an ulterior motive for the decision to temporary idle the last blast furnace in operation in Granite City.
"(The UAW Strike) is a small part in it, but there's alot of other stuff going on," said one worker who went by the name 'Rick', "Price of steel is high and the orders are low."
Budzinksi (D), whose jurisdiction included Granite City, criticized the decision, calling it 'ridiculous' that the company is blaming the UAW strikes for the decision when the strike has only been in affect for five days.
"This is clearly a part of U.S. Steel's business calculation and has been for some time," said Budzinski.
Budzinski told KMOX immediately after the news that she had been working to try cover up the exemptions and loopholes in the 'Warns Act' for a while now.
"Those working men and women deserve notice to prepare their families, their community for what those job losses will mean," said Budzinski.