Layoffs at Severstal Warren grow

WARREN — Layoffs are growing at a Warren steel mill that shut down its steel-making operations in October.

Some departments at Severstal Warren that had been processing steel finished their work Friday, which means workers there are no longer needed, said Mike Rounsley, benefits representative for United Steelworkers of America Local 1375.

He didn’t know the number of workers being laid off, and Ed Machingo, local president, was not available for comment.

Workers were told in December that about half of the mill’s 1,200 hourly and salaried workers would be laid off at some point. They also were told the steel-making operations, which closed in the fall for repairs, would not be restarted until sometime in 2009, perhaps as late as June 1.

Mel Baggett, Severstal vice president of human resources, said he didn’t want to give weekly updates on layoff numbers. He would only say that a significant number of people had already been laid off.

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