Published: January 15, 2016 |

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Laid-off workers and local officials gathered Wednesday evening in Silver Bay to hear from state legislators about what’s being done to combat the downturn in the U.S. iron ore and steel industries.

Cliffs Natural Resources announced in November that it would close its Northshore Mining operations in Silver Bay and Babbitt because of the continuing oversupply of iron ore in the U.S. and global markets, putting several hundred employees out of work in just one of several mine idlings in Northeastern Minnesota.

About 60 people attended the town hall meeting hosted by state Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook; Rep. Rob Ecklund, DFL-International Falls; and Rep. Jason Metsa, DFL-Virginia.

Some of the present-day Northshore Mining workers experienced layoffs when the plant — then owned by Reserve Mining Co. — closed in the 1980s before later reopening. There was a sense of pessimism from some in the crowd Wednesday that the current idling will be long-term.

The oversupply of iron ore stems in part from an increase in cheap foreign steel being sold in the U.S. Those imports have pushed down demand for U.S.-made steel and the Minnesota taconite iron ore used to make it.

Members of the audience expressed frustration that President Barack Obama hasn’t used his authority under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose tariffs on foreign steel that would make it unprofitable for any foreign nation to send steel to the U.S. One laid-off worker noted how Obama, in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, spoke about how the nation’s economy is doing better — but the worker said, “I’m not feeling that here.”

Bakk, who noted that the issue is “very personal” to him because he has a son and daughter-in-law working in the mining industry on the Range, said state officials have been pressuring the federal government to take steps to help the nation’s steel industry. Those efforts led to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough visiting the Iron Range last month.

“What we’ve tried to convey to McDonough is, sure, there are a lot of companies benefiting from all this foreign steel when they make stuff — but this isn’t like offshoring the production of TVs or tennis shoes or toasters. You can offshore that stuff and you know what, the country will probably get by,” Bakk said. “But when you no longer have a domestic steel industry because you’ve offshored that, someday national security will be at risk and once the steel industry goes away it won’t come back.”

Casey Josephson, 33, of Two Harbors, who has worked for Cliffs for five years, said he appreciated hearing from state legislators about what they’re doing to help the industry and the affected workers, and was leaving Wednesday’s town hall with mixed emotions.

“It was good to just get an understanding from Tom Bakk and the others that showed up,” he said. “I’m walking away with a good feeling, but still uneasy because you just don’t know what to do.

Source: (January 13, 2016) Duluth News Tribune

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