You can bet that the USWA will target any minimills that have layoffs. When layoffs are inevitable, as in a merger that requires shutting down redundant capacity, the merging companies should let employees know as quickly as possible about who needs to start looking for work. This was the case when Bethlehem and Lukens announced their merger in early 1998. Pa. This certainty helped Bethlehem and Lukens in merging the plate business, says Frederick J. Smith, vice president of operations at Bethlehem Lukens Plate. Managers at Bethlehem and Lukens could say with certainty who the winners and losers were in the consolidation, so workers could focus on their jobs.
Layoffs sometimes are necessary.
But when doing so, steelmakers need to look beyond the immediate savings to the long-term effect on their company. One of the industry's biggest problems is recruiting workers. Employees who were laid off might have found other work by then, and new entrants to the workforce might think twice about joining an industry that recently shed thousands of jobs.