WARREN Slow sales force WCI to lay off 169

WARREN -- WCI Steel idled its hot strip mill and laid off 169 hourly employees this week because of lagging orders.
Tim Roberts, a WCI spokesman, said most of the layoffs are related to the shutdown of the hot strip mill where steel slabs are rolled into coils.
He said 119 workers, those with three or more years of seniority, had the right under their union contract to accept or refuse the layoff and be assigned to another job in the plant. WCI hourly workers are represented by United Steelworkers of America Local 1375.
The remaining 50 had less than three years seniority and did not have that option. Roberts said the mill likely will resume operations Monday.
WCI reported a net loss of $37.5 million in its fiscal 2002, its second consecutive losing year, but said its parent company had agreed to contribute an additional $15 million to help the steelmaker continue operations.
The company hired Metal Strategies, a Pennsylvania company specializing in strategic planning and business plan development for metals companies, to complete a comprehensive analysis of all WCI's operations. Roberts said the study, begun last month, is under review.