Granite City is facing a loss of nearly a thousand jobs after United States Steel decided to sell the steel plant there. The mill has been pouring steel since 1895 -- through two world wars.
The company announced plans to sell its Illinois blast furnaces to a company called SunCoke Energy, which would convert them to make pig iron pellets. US Steel would then buy the pellets to make steel at a new electric plant in Arkansas.
Steelworkers Local 1899 President Dan Simmons said the change feels like a slap in the face, especially after the Granite City plant had seen a lot of success recently.
"Through the pandemic, we've done nothing but make them record history profits," Simmons told KMOX's Michael Calhoun. "And instead of putting money back into our facilities where they could've helped us out in the long term, they've taken those profits and went down to Arkansas and they're gonna turn their backs on the employees that have saved them."
Granite City residents are upset about the change too, knowing it'll upset the local economy.
"I might as well move. There won't be nothing left to this town really," one resident told KMOX's Kevin Killeen.
Granite City resident Freda Kraus has deep roots in the city, and said the mill's move will dramatically affect the economy and property values.
"They make more money here for the big steel mill than any of the other mills," she said. "Now they're gonna go to all these little places to kill the school system our taxes depend on, our city depends on."
Simmons said of the 1,400 workers currently employed in Granite City, U.S. Steel would only need 100 to maintain a small coating operation. SunCoke would hire about 400, leaving 900 or so workers without a job.
"It's shock right now, it's devastation and shock," he said. "We're one of the most efficient blast furnaces in the nation, and that still isn't enough for them."
The deal still needs board and government approvals, which Simmons said gives him some hope. Plus, Simmons has some legislators like Representative Jay Hoffman on his side.
"There was really no advance notice to any of the elected officials or to the workers at the Granite City Works from U.S. Steel. And so it was like a gut punch," Hoffman said. "I'm hopeful that we can work with the local state and federal officials and get them to reconsider. I guess, one of the things that I did take some hope in is that they indicated that this was tentative and not written in stone."
Listen to the full conversation from Total Information AM: