Evraz Inc., one of the largest vertically-integrated steel and mining businesses in the world, announced this week that it will lay off about 400 workers at its North American pipe manufacturing facilities across Western Canada.
Evraz workers in Camrose, Calgary and Red Deer, Alberta and in Regina, Saskatchewan will be among those affected. The first round of Regina layoffs occurred last week. The layoffs will be based on seniority, which means most of those laid off will be fairly junior employees according to Evraz officials. All layoffs will be in effect by the end of April.
Evraz executives said poor demand for steel pipe and related products used at oil well drilling sites was the main reason for the layoffs. The slumping world economy and the sharp drop in the price of oil were also blamed as culprits.
Bill Edwards, the president of United Steel Workers of America Local 5890, which represents about 900 workers at the Regina plant, worries the number of layoffs will eventually be higher than those estimated by the company, especially if economic conditions continue to worsen.
Evraz is certainly not the only company in the industry that has been unable to escape the impact of the tough times being experienced in the national and international economies. Amsted Rail, a steel company based in Illinois, is another of the many North American steel companies that have recently laid off workers – the company announced this week it was shedding 363 jobs immediately and plans to lay off an additional 206 workers.