After a tumultuous month, union workers at the Granite City Works steel mill are concerned about the Metro East plant’s future.
On Sept. 4, U.S. Steel notified the local chapter of the United Steelworkers union that it would stop sending steel slabs to be processed at the mill. Just a few weeks later, it reversed the decision.
The flipflop followed years of uncertainty and work disruptions at Granite City Works. U.S. Steel idled blast furnace A in 2019 and blast furnace B in 2023, laying off hundreds of union workers. Now, the roughly 900 workers there just process steel slabs brought in from other locations.
Craig McKey, president of the Granite City chapter of the United Steelworkers, said resuming operations of at least one of the blast furnaces could help increase U.S. Steel’s output.
“We've all been scratching our heads on why they're not including our capacity from our blast furnaces, because they're obviously not being able to make as many slabs as they need in the corporation,” McKey said.
When Japanese company Nippon acquired U.S. Steel in June, an agreement with the Trump administration protects the Granite City plant from closure until 2027. But union members are concerned, because the other U.S. Steel mills in the agreement are protected until 2035.
McKey said many of his members are beginning to seek work elsewhere.
“We've lost a lot of hope because we've been dealing with this stuff for so long here at Granite City, and I don't think any of them have a lot of hope or hold out anymore,” McKey said.
The union is fighting for the mill to stay open past 2027. Its members are hoping to persuade Nippon and the Trump administration to restart the blast furnaces and invest in the mill.
“This place has been making steel for over 100 years,” McKey said. “It not only built the city of Granite City, but it's built a lot of the outlying communities around here.”
To hear more about the complicated relationship between Granite City Works and U.S. Steel from McKey and STLPR Metro East reporter Will Bauer, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
