LATEST NEWS REGARDING THE CURRENT LAYOFF.
May 5, 2015 Layoff update
We met with the company this afternoon and finalized an agreement on the Layoff Minimization Plan. As a result of the 32 hour work week and the company's Carnegie Way/Maintenance projects that we will be doing during the downturn, we were told that the number of employees being affected by the layoff will be reduced from nearly 700 to approximately 400. The voluntary layoff (VLO) forms will be distributed tomorrow, Wednesday, May 6 and you must turn them in by Monday, May 11th. We will meet with the company again on Friday, May 8, and that is when we expect to be provided with numbers by department. We will continue to post additional information as it becomes available to us.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast
APRIL 29, 2015
Brothers and Sisters,
We met with the company this afternoon, we are hoping to to finalize the Layoff Minimization Plan by the end of this week. Some of the final issues to be resolved are; Duration of 32 hr work week, Regression of senior employees into the labor pool, and shops manning levels. We thought the company would have had a list of employees by department effected by the layoff, but alas we were once again disappointed. We are being told that mid to late next week is their target date for providing the list to us. I know it is frustrating but we can only share with you the information that has been given to us.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast
Brothers and Sisters,
We met with the company this afternoon, we are hoping to to finalize the Layoff Minimization Plan by the end of this week. Some of the final issues to be resolved are; Duration of 32 hr work week, Regression of senior employees into the labor pool, and shops manning levels. We thought the company would have had a list of employees by department effected by the layoff, but alas we were once again disappointed. We are being told that mid to late next week is their target date for providing the list to us. I know it is frustrating but we can only share with you the information that has been given to us.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast
April 24, 2015
Sisters and Brothers,
We have had a few meetings with the company this week, involving voluntary layoffs and the rest of the layoff minimization plan, with little progress being made. The company is working on developing a list of those employees effected by a layoff and we hope to have that list by the end of next week. We do not yet have a solid number of employees who will remain on the job due to a 32 hour work week and the proposed maintenance shutdown. Hopefully in the coming weeks more information will be available to share with you, and we will get it out as soon as we get it.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast, Vice President
Sisters and Brothers,
We have had a few meetings with the company this week, involving voluntary layoffs and the rest of the layoff minimization plan, with little progress being made. The company is working on developing a list of those employees effected by a layoff and we hope to have that list by the end of next week. We do not yet have a solid number of employees who will remain on the job due to a 32 hour work week and the proposed maintenance shutdown. Hopefully in the coming weeks more information will be available to share with you, and we will get it out as soon as we get it.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast, Vice President
April 17, 2015
Brothers and Sisters,
Lowell Carlon and I met with the Company for the first time yesterday in regard to developing a Layoff Minimization Plan. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of information to share with you at this point.
We did stress to the Company that developing a plan for Voluntary Layoffs was one of our top priorities in order to keep some of our junior employees working. At this point the Company does not have a list of how many people from each department will be laid off, but I do foresee us receiving that list in approximately a week or so.
Information regarding 32 hour work weeks and vacation shutdowns have not yet been finalized by the Company, but stay tuned.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast, Vice President
Brothers and Sisters,
Lowell Carlon and I met with the Company for the first time yesterday in regard to developing a Layoff Minimization Plan. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of information to share with you at this point.
We did stress to the Company that developing a plan for Voluntary Layoffs was one of our top priorities in order to keep some of our junior employees working. At this point the Company does not have a list of how many people from each department will be laid off, but I do foresee us receiving that list in approximately a week or so.
Information regarding 32 hour work weeks and vacation shutdowns have not yet been finalized by the Company, but stay tuned.
In Solidarity,
John Arbogast, Vice President
April 7,2015
Brothers and Sisters,
As of today we do not have any news on the pending layoffs. We will be attempting to meet with the Company sometime this week now that Mike Patton is back. We will be giving out a letter today to your area grievers at the monthly grievance committee meeting to distribute in the plant. It will contain some of the frequently asked questions related to the layoffs. We have spoken to the leadership from Keetac and have been informed that they have not gotten any type of list or any other information related to their layoffs as of yet. I know the lack of information is frustrating to say the least and we will continue to put pressure on the Company to provide us with the information you all want to know.
In Solidarity
Jon Malek President USW Local 1938
Brothers and Sisters,
As of today we do not have any news on the pending layoffs. We will be attempting to meet with the Company sometime this week now that Mike Patton is back. We will be giving out a letter today to your area grievers at the monthly grievance committee meeting to distribute in the plant. It will contain some of the frequently asked questions related to the layoffs. We have spoken to the leadership from Keetac and have been informed that they have not gotten any type of list or any other information related to their layoffs as of yet. I know the lack of information is frustrating to say the least and we will continue to put pressure on the Company to provide us with the information you all want to know.
In Solidarity
Jon Malek President USW Local 1938
April 2, 2015
Brothers and Sisters,
We met with Lt. Governor Tina Smith, Senator Tomassoni, and Representative Metza yesterday afternoon to discuss the crisis we are in locally, the steel industry as a whole, and what if any services the State has available to assist us in the logistical nightmare of signing up 700 people for unemployment and trying to navigate through Mn. Sure to find affordable healthcare. Tina has committed to sending us a rapid response team to help us work our way through it. We also traveled to Keetac yesterday afternoon to sit in on the presentation that was given to their members by Rick Caligiuri the Director of the Unemployment Insurance Division for the State and a representative to answer questions on TAA benefits. We also met with Congressman Nolan last night in Eveleth to discuss some possible solutions to the Steel dumping. We still tentatively have a meeting with Senator Klobuchar for tomorrow and Mark Dayton will be here at the Union Hall on Saturday at 9:30 am. This is an open invitation to all Minntac and Keetac employees and the Governor would like to address us all and hear our concerns. We are hoping to have an informational letter in the plant and on the website in the next day or so with some of the most frequently asked questions we are getting related to the layoff and benefits. Our website will be the main information source for the coming weeks and from time to time we will be putting out informational updates in the plant. We have not heard from the Company yet on any other issues or when we are going to sit down and talk about the layoffs.
In Solidarity,
Jon Malek - President USW Local 1938
Brothers and Sisters,
We met with Lt. Governor Tina Smith, Senator Tomassoni, and Representative Metza yesterday afternoon to discuss the crisis we are in locally, the steel industry as a whole, and what if any services the State has available to assist us in the logistical nightmare of signing up 700 people for unemployment and trying to navigate through Mn. Sure to find affordable healthcare. Tina has committed to sending us a rapid response team to help us work our way through it. We also traveled to Keetac yesterday afternoon to sit in on the presentation that was given to their members by Rick Caligiuri the Director of the Unemployment Insurance Division for the State and a representative to answer questions on TAA benefits. We also met with Congressman Nolan last night in Eveleth to discuss some possible solutions to the Steel dumping. We still tentatively have a meeting with Senator Klobuchar for tomorrow and Mark Dayton will be here at the Union Hall on Saturday at 9:30 am. This is an open invitation to all Minntac and Keetac employees and the Governor would like to address us all and hear our concerns. We are hoping to have an informational letter in the plant and on the website in the next day or so with some of the most frequently asked questions we are getting related to the layoff and benefits. Our website will be the main information source for the coming weeks and from time to time we will be putting out informational updates in the plant. We have not heard from the Company yet on any other issues or when we are going to sit down and talk about the layoffs.
In Solidarity,
Jon Malek - President USW Local 1938
April 1, 2015
Brothers and Sisters,
Yesterday was not a good day for any of us, and it really didn't come as much of a shock probably to most of us. All of this is now in the past, and we need to move forward and deal with the situation we all have in our laps.
Senator Franken, Senator Tomassoni, Representative Metza and Assistant Director Rebrovich from the International were all here yesterday to meet with the Local Union leadership. We had a long discussion on the predicament we are in and are getting a game plan together. Tentatively we are supposed to be meeting with Congressman Nolan tonight and Senator Klobuchar on Friday. They along with Senator Franken are going to be taking the fight to Washington D.C. on our behalf. Illegally dumped foreign steel is the main factor why our plants are being shut down, and they are the ones who have the best shot at doing something about it.
We are also scheduled to meet with Lt. Governor Tina smith today and Governor Mark Dayton on Saturday to help us on our State issues related to unemployment and other benefits. We have spoken to Jason Wadell who is with the Department of Employment and Economic Development and is their Senior Trade Adjustment Assistance Specialist. He will piggyback us on to Keetac's WARN notice which will sign us up for TAA benefits that will extend unemployment benefits to 2 years. We will be working with Jason to set up meetings here at the hall with the affected employees to explain their benefits and answer any questions. We will keep everyone posted on the meeting schedules.
The support we have seen from our elected officials has been overwhelming to say the least. It makes me feel very good to know the hard work the Union Leadership has done over the years creating good relationships with our elected officials has come to roost when we need them the most.
We expect to be meeting with the Company soon to get more details on the layoffs and to start working on our layoff minimization plan which is required by contract. We will keep everyone posted on any and all information as it becomes available. Please do not let all of this become a distraction and trust the Leadership to get all of the logistics taken care of on your behalf. We did it before and will continue to do it now and into the future.
In Solidarity,
Jon Malek - President USW Local 1938
Brothers and Sisters,
Yesterday was not a good day for any of us, and it really didn't come as much of a shock probably to most of us. All of this is now in the past, and we need to move forward and deal with the situation we all have in our laps.
Senator Franken, Senator Tomassoni, Representative Metza and Assistant Director Rebrovich from the International were all here yesterday to meet with the Local Union leadership. We had a long discussion on the predicament we are in and are getting a game plan together. Tentatively we are supposed to be meeting with Congressman Nolan tonight and Senator Klobuchar on Friday. They along with Senator Franken are going to be taking the fight to Washington D.C. on our behalf. Illegally dumped foreign steel is the main factor why our plants are being shut down, and they are the ones who have the best shot at doing something about it.
We are also scheduled to meet with Lt. Governor Tina smith today and Governor Mark Dayton on Saturday to help us on our State issues related to unemployment and other benefits. We have spoken to Jason Wadell who is with the Department of Employment and Economic Development and is their Senior Trade Adjustment Assistance Specialist. He will piggyback us on to Keetac's WARN notice which will sign us up for TAA benefits that will extend unemployment benefits to 2 years. We will be working with Jason to set up meetings here at the hall with the affected employees to explain their benefits and answer any questions. We will keep everyone posted on the meeting schedules.
The support we have seen from our elected officials has been overwhelming to say the least. It makes me feel very good to know the hard work the Union Leadership has done over the years creating good relationships with our elected officials has come to roost when we need them the most.
We expect to be meeting with the Company soon to get more details on the layoffs and to start working on our layoff minimization plan which is required by contract. We will keep everyone posted on any and all information as it becomes available. Please do not let all of this become a distraction and trust the Leadership to get all of the logistics taken care of on your behalf. We did it before and will continue to do it now and into the future.
In Solidarity,
Jon Malek - President USW Local 1938
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT MALEK TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN THE PLANT_3/31/2015
Brothers and Sisters,
We were called to the General Managers office yesterday afternoon to have a meeting with Employee Relations. I regret to inform everyone that we were told they will be issuing a WARN Notice to all Minntac employees as of March 31, 2015. The Company reported their pellet forecast is 3.2 million tons more than the steel mills need and they have no choice but to make a pellet adjustment starting June 1, 2015. That amount of tonnage is equal to the entire output of step 1 and 2 Agglomerator for a period of 4 months. They informed us they intend to shut down lines 3, 4, and 5 for that duration initially, and will be reviewing our order status during that time to make any further adjustments if needed. We were informed they intend to layoff around 700 people as of June 1st.
We have been in contact with the Governor’s office and were told that they will provide us with any assistance we need dealing with unemployment and signing up for MnSure for those that will be losing their healthcare. We will also be applying for Trade Adjustment Assistance which extends the duration of unemployment benefits. At this point in time we have not been given any details on who is getting laid off, manning levels in each department, or if they will keep stripping in the mine, as details become available we will immediately keep everyone informed. The magnitude of this first round of layoffs came as quite a blow and the logistics of this will be quite a lot to deal with. This is not the first time your leadership has had to deal with this and we will work our way through all the hard times that we as Steelworkers have come to accept as being part of the Industry. No one has been or will be forgotten or left behind as we work through the next 60 days and beyond.
If anyone has any questions going forward Arbo and I can be reached at the hall 741-0887 or our personal cells 290-4074 for Jon and 780-0536 for Arbo. News like this is devastating and the uncertainty of everything cannot distract us from doing our jobs safely, we all need to go home in the same condition we arrived.
In Solidarity:
Jon Malek – President USW Local 1938
Brothers and Sisters,
We were called to the General Managers office yesterday afternoon to have a meeting with Employee Relations. I regret to inform everyone that we were told they will be issuing a WARN Notice to all Minntac employees as of March 31, 2015. The Company reported their pellet forecast is 3.2 million tons more than the steel mills need and they have no choice but to make a pellet adjustment starting June 1, 2015. That amount of tonnage is equal to the entire output of step 1 and 2 Agglomerator for a period of 4 months. They informed us they intend to shut down lines 3, 4, and 5 for that duration initially, and will be reviewing our order status during that time to make any further adjustments if needed. We were informed they intend to layoff around 700 people as of June 1st.
We have been in contact with the Governor’s office and were told that they will provide us with any assistance we need dealing with unemployment and signing up for MnSure for those that will be losing their healthcare. We will also be applying for Trade Adjustment Assistance which extends the duration of unemployment benefits. At this point in time we have not been given any details on who is getting laid off, manning levels in each department, or if they will keep stripping in the mine, as details become available we will immediately keep everyone informed. The magnitude of this first round of layoffs came as quite a blow and the logistics of this will be quite a lot to deal with. This is not the first time your leadership has had to deal with this and we will work our way through all the hard times that we as Steelworkers have come to accept as being part of the Industry. No one has been or will be forgotten or left behind as we work through the next 60 days and beyond.
If anyone has any questions going forward Arbo and I can be reached at the hall 741-0887 or our personal cells 290-4074 for Jon and 780-0536 for Arbo. News like this is devastating and the uncertainty of everything cannot distract us from doing our jobs safely, we all need to go home in the same condition we arrived.
In Solidarity:
Jon Malek – President USW Local 1938
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