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Warren Steel workers to receive assistance
By Kalea Hall
WARREN
Laid-off Warren Steel Holdings employees have received certification for the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
The certification includes on-site leased workers from Accountemps and Alliance Solutions.
TAA will assist these workers in their search for re-employment with income support, training, assistance with health care premium costs, employment and case- management services.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance program is a federal program that aids U.S. workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade.
To be certified for TAA, a petition must be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor.
“It’s something that we do when we have a plant shutdown,” said Jose Arroyo, business representative for the United Steelworkers. “It’s all the imports. The trade deals are killing us.”
The steel industry has taken a hit from the effects of a strong dollar, weak global demand and a buildup of inventory.
Warren Steel, 4000 Mahoning Ave. NW in Warren, permanently closed Jan. 9 due to “unforeseen business conditions.”
The plant previously went on a temporary shutdown in November to wait out the downturn in the industry until the first quarter of 2016.
But the temporary shutdown became permanent because “unforeseeable business circumstances have arisen, including rapidly deteriorating economic conditions, loss of significant customer demand, loss of continued financing and the impending loss of electricity as evidenced by a recently received utility disconnection notice,” wrote John Scheel, vice president of Warren Steel, in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification or WARN notice to the state of Ohio.
A total of 162 employees were terminated in the plant closing.
Warren Steel, affiliated with Optima Speciality Steel based in Miami, engineered products used in a variety of industries, including aerospace, mining, construction, automotive and agriculture.
“When jobs are unfairly taken from our local communities and shipped overseas due to a rigged system, we must make it a priority to make sure hard-working Americans are given the resources necessary to succeed in this global economy,” U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, said in a statement. “I am pleased that employees at Warren Steel Holdings will now be able to access the services they need to help them land on their feet.”