SAULT STE. MARIE – Algoma Steel’s devastating announcement of more than 1,000 layoffs will hit workers and Sault Ste. Marie hard on the eve of the holiday season. Not only will this hurt the community, it also is an embarrassment for the federal government, which has supported Algoma during a difficult trade war and transition to new furnaces, the United Steelworkers union (USW) says.
Job losses were expected at Algoma due to a transition to electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production as well as the damage inflicted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of unprecedented 50% tariffs on Canadian steel exports. Algoma has indicated it proceeded more quickly with its transition to EAF production aimed at Canadian domestic customers, since the tariffs have effectively dried up its exports to the U.S.
However, the vast amount of public funding provided to Algoma should have included iron-clad conditions and a comprehensive transition plan to avert such a sudden decision to slash jobs and devastate families and the community in one fell swoop, said USW National Director Marty Warren.
“This must be a lesson that we never forget: when governments sign agreements to support industry, they must ensure transparent commitments to job security and job growth,” Warren said.
“After accepting nearly $1 billion in public funding, it’s a disgrace for Algoma Steel to announce layoffs of this scale at this particular time and with such a sense of impunity, free of any responsibility or accountability to its workers and the community.”
In 2021, the federal government announced commitments of $420 million in financial support for Algoma’s EAF transition. This year, the federal and Ontario governments committed a combined $500 million. Algoma has proceeded with shutting down its traditional coke oven steel production and is operating one electric arc furnace, with a second EAF planned for the future.
“When Algoma went to government seeking this massive funding, workers, their union and the community were shut out of the process. They were denied a meaningful role in which they could have insisted on transparency, accountability and a staggered workforce reduction program,” Warren said.
“We’re now seeing the devastating human costs of this secretive process which excludes the people who are most affected. More than 1,000 workers, their families and the entire Sault Ste. Marie community are facing life-changing upheaval during the holiday season.”
Warren also questioned whether Algoma will demonstrate a measure of transparency to workers and the community by divulging the compensation package the company will give its outgoing Chief Executive Officer.
“The USW calls for immediate support for workers, not just loans to companies. We have asked, time and time again, for enhanced Employment Insurance, retraining and transition income supports, securing our borders from unfair trade and real enforcement of Buy-Canadian policies to keep our mills running,” Warren said.
“The federal government’s measures announced to date are steps in the right direction, but the response clearly has not matched the scale of this crisis, and more jobs and communities are at risk.”
About the United Steelworkers union
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
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