Watch CBS News

Welder Who Died At Gary Steel Mill Thought His Workplace Was 'Getting Dangerous,' Wife Says

GARY, Ind. (CBS) -- A welder who died at the Gary Works steel mill Friday had been looking for another job because he thought his current workplace was getting unsafe, his wife tells CBS 2.

Jonathan Arizzola
Jonathan Arizzola (courtesy: Arizzola family)

, 30, of Valparaiso, Ind. died at the U.S. Steel Slab Storage Yard, the Lake County, Ind. coroner said. No cause of death was given.

The workers union at the mill said company cost-cutting measures and workplace pressures may have been to blame. Arizzola's wife, Whitney, said her husband had been working between 70 hours to 90 hours a week, fixing and welding overhead cranes on the property.

"It started getting dangerous, so he started looking for work recently," she tells CBS 2's Sandra Torres.

Arizzola was a Navy veteran and a father and had worked at the mill for about four years, Whitney Arizzola said.

U.S. Steel said the fatal "incident" is under investigation.

"Our deepest sympathies are with the employee's family," a spokesperson for U.S. Steel.

Labor officials have accused U.S. Steel of making the mill less safe through layoffs and by shuffling workers to other jobs.

On Saturday, United Steelworkers Local 1014 posted a statement on Facebook.

"While all the details are being sorted out one thing is indisputable: this is horrible news and this young man who was a Husband, a Brother, and a Father, didn't make it home last night," President Rodney D. Lewis Sr. said.

 

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.