Weirton steel era ends emotionally: More than 900 out of jobs as Cleveland Cliffs idles

WEIRTON, W.Va. — It’s the end of an era in Weirton.

The town that was once forged on steel will no longer produce any form of it after a century.

The Cleveland Cliffs tin mill will officially idle Saturday.

Workers described the day as gloomy and emotional. More than 900 people will no longer report to the site for work.

“This is sad,” worker Carol Sczruba said. “This has been around when my grandparents were here, my dad worked in the mill, my uncles, it’s devastating for this community.”

Many have already been laid off from their jobs in the mill, leaving them no option but to find work elsewhere or transfer to other Cliffs facilities in places like Cleveland, Warren, Butler, or further.

“I’m a little nervous but gotta go where work is,” worker Joshua Shreve said.

“We’re going to be competing against each other to get jobs,” worker Todd McDonald said. “There’s jobs out there, but they won’t pay what we make here.”

McDonald grabbed his last pair of safety boots before saying goodbye to some of his fellow coworkers who they now refer to as family.

He says it’s just too hard to uproot and leave.

“I wouldn’t take the transfer,” he said. “It’s just too far. The problem with this is even if it turns around, it’s going to take some time. A lot of people have to move on, you got to make a decision. You have a family to take care of.”

Some of those folks are hoping the move will be temporary.

Chuck Nurmi has worked in the same spot for 54 years and knows what it means to Weirton.

“I hope they do start the mill back up, sometime down the road. For the people, families, and our town,” he said.

USW 2911 President Mark Glyptis says if the ITC overturns its ruling, production wouldn’t start back up overnight.

But they remain positive as they continue conversations at the company level and in Washington D.C.

“I’ve been talking to the chairman of the board,” Glyptis said. “He says there’s a solution to the issue. It may not be a short-term solution, may take a little longer but it will be a long-term, positive solution.”

Many are still holding on to hope for an ITC overturning from President Joe Biden.

“We’re Americans,” Sczruba said. “The ITC and President Biden, this is where he needs to shine and prove to us that he cares about us. “

Right now, the work being done in the mill is just cleaning and preparing it for future use.