Tribune Chronicle reported that 20 skilled workers at the Severstal Warren steel mill are scheduled to be laid off next week in a move the union president plans to quickly take to arbitration.

Mr Ed Machingo, president of 1,050 member United Steelworkers Local 1375, said the company wants to bring in outside workers to do the machine repair work his members contractually should be doing. Mr Machingo said he'll go to expedited arbitration, which will put the issue before an arbitrator early next week.

Mr Machingo said “Severstal is trying to 'create a fight. They're claiming surge work, but in reality they're creating the surge by holding back on repairs and breakdowns, then bringing them all in at once. They think bringing in outside contractors is the efficient way to go, but it's not. The efficient way is sticking to a very comprehensive maintenance schedule and using your own people.”

Mr Machingo said outsourcing maintenance work is what's holding up a labor contract with the union at Severstal Warren, but he said it's only part of what the company wants to do in a new contract. He said “I've been very quiet about it, but that's what we're negotiating. The company wants to eliminate jobs. They refuse to understand we're dealing with people's livelihoods.”

He told that the union has 300 some skilled trades workers.

Severstal spokeswoman Ms Bette Kovach said the company won't publicly discuss employment levels.

The union and management are working under one of many extensions of the contract that expired Nov. 1, 2008. The extensions had been for one month, but the latest one is 120 days running through August.

(Sourced from Tribune Chronicle)