Mittal Steel calls back Weirton workers

After months of job cuts, Mittal Steel has hired back 42 former employees, as was announced by the Independent Steelworkers Union Tuesday. Forty-two employees who previously opted to accept an involuntary termination are now seeing the benefits of their decision to do so. At the time of cutbacks, the company offered the employees the option of voluntary or involuntary termination. A small portion of employees chose involuntary termination in hopes of regaining their jobs. By choosing involuntary termination rather than voluntary, the 42 employees were placed on a preferred hiring list. This allowed them to be rehired by Mittal steel. The other 871 laid off employees chose to be voluntarily terminated, which allowed them to cut their ties with the company in return for higher financial compensation than the involuntarily terminated employees received. Sources say that Mittal Steel may also be taking back an additional 37 workers over the next few weeks. Mark Glyptus, ISU president, told press, “At this point, we started returning the 42 this week. It is good news. Our order book is looking stronger and this will help meet demand.” Mr. Glyptus said that he remains very optimistic about the future of the Weirton facility.