Union Expects Recall Soon Of All Laid Off Minntac Workers

VIRGINIA, Minn. (AP) — The United Steelworkers union says it expects all laid off employees at U.S. Steel's Minntac mine to be recalled in the next two weeks.

In a statement on the Local 1930 website, local president Lowell Carlon says the company has already recalled 68 maintenance and other employees in preparation. He says maintenance workers will be returning to a 40-hour week next week, while operations workers are still on a 32-hour week. Over the next two weeks, he says, all employees on layoff should be recalled.

U.S. Steel laid off about 400 Minntac workers in June, citing imports, dumping of foreign steel and low prices. The Mountain Iron facility employs about 1,500 people. The company's other Iron Range facility, Keetac, remains in idle mode with about half its workforce on layoff.

Virginia