As part of its transition to electric arc furnace production, Algoma Steel has decided to close two lines in its plate and strip complex.
"We have made the decision to indefinitely idle the 106-inch mill and the No. 1 temper mill line," Laura Devoni, the company's director of human resources and corporate affairs, told SooToday on Friday evening.
"Algoma Steel must adapt to the ever-changing steel market and we are focusing our operational and business efforts on producing and selling plate as part of our plate growth strategy, enabled by our recently modernized plate mill," Devoni said.
"We will not discuss specifics regarding employee movements, however details were provided to all employees impacted in accordance with our collective bargaining agreements."
Neither Devoni nor Steelworkers Local 2251 president Mike Da Prat would provide a date for the planned closures.
"I can't give you the exact date because it's in flux, but that they're talking about the No. 1 line and the 106 line," Da Prat told us.
The steelmaker's 106-inch (269-centimetre) six-stand, hot-strip mill rolls low-carbon steel slabs into widths up to 96 inches (244 centimetres).
"I don't want to commit to a day because I don't know the exact date," Da Prat said, nonetheless confirming that the closures are believed to be "imminent."
The union boss said he has issues with the way Algoma Steel is handling the shut-downs.
"The conflict is with the method that they're regressing . . . There's pool jobs that are designed to place people into just this type of situation.
"The company is claiming that they're not scheduling those jobs. So that's the source of the conflict."
Da Prat said he's unaware of any of his local members being served with layoff notices, but that wouldn't happen unless workers were leaving the company, not being transferred to other lines as the collective agreement requires.