• Font Size    

Most Watched On KDKA.com

Fireworks Light Up Pittsburgh Skyline
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Steel Industry Wants Inclusion In Stimulus Plan

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Jan 2, 2009 8:10 pm US/Eastern

Steel Industry Wants Inclusion In Stimulus Plan

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― With the American auto industry struggling to survive, could the American steel industry be far behind?

Through much of last year, the American steel industry was doing quite well. And then the bottom fell -- leading to layoffs and growing concerns about the future of this key domestic industry.

So now steel makers and steel workers are turning their eyes to a new president -- who was a community organizer back in the 1980s in southside Chicago when a US Steel plant shut down.

"The auto industry crisis is a significant driver in what's going on right now because auto uses a lot of steel," says Jim English, the secretary-treasurer of the United Steelworkers of America.

English admits he's worried.

"Right now you've probably got about 10 to 20 percent of the workers in the steel industry laid off because of this lack of demand."

English remembers the 1980's when mills shut down -- and never reopened because the demand for steel fell off so badly.

So this time, the industry is pushing President-elect Obama to create demand for steel by pumping federal money into infrastructure work that uses steel like roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and the like.

"We've got to load a lot of money into infrastructure so that we can build demand from the grassroots up."

And this stimulus bill must have a Buy American requirement to make it work.

"The key to an infrastructure program that works is a program that uses American products, American-made products," says English.

Now obviously a stimulus package that allowed recipients of federal tax dollars to buy foreign steel makes no sense at all -- and English feels confident that a Buy American provision will be included.

But equally important is a substantial sum of money directed to projects that need steel, thereby boosting demand and restoring full employment in the industry. 

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Featured Slideshows On KDKA.com

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Business

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.