Hamilton powerless to stop U.S. Steel's 'slow, painful' withdrawal: mayor
Watching the changes to U.S. Steel Canada is a "slow, painful grind," says Hamilton's mayor — and the city is essentially powerless to stop it.
The city has formed a steel committee, which meets every few months to discuss the corporation's slow withdrawal from Hamilton. It has written letters and passed motions wanting information on a secret deal between the federal government and the steel maker.
Councillors have given countless speeches fearing for pensioners, and the future of steel jobs in Hamilton.
We don't have any regulatory authority.- Mayor Fred Eisenberger
But the city learned on Wednesday that the steel maker is moving production out of the Hamilton and Nanticoke plants. And ultimately, Mayor Fred Eisenberger said, there's not much the city can do about it.
"Other than persuasion and making sure we're advocating on behalf of steel makers and employees and pensions…we don't have any regulatory authority," Eisenberger said.
The city continues to try to get information and look for options, he said. But watching the U.S. Steel process is a "slow, painful grind," and right now, Hamilton can only do so much.
This week's news comes against the wishes of the chief restructuring officer in the U.S. Steel Canada's bankruptcy proceedings. A court-appointed monitor also hasn't had a chance to review the plan, but the steel maker said it will move ahead regardless of the monitor's opinion.
The shift in capacity amounts to 27 per cent of production at Hamilton, or a loss in revenue of $40 million for the last three months of the year and about $160 million for all of 2016.
The government has failed this city miserably.- Terry Whitehead
The news is just the latest in a series of heart-breaking hits for Hamilton steelworkers.
In October 2013, U.S. Steel Canada announced that it would permanently shutter iron and steel making at Hamilton Works. It had already temporarily halted the work in 2010. The move impacted 47 non-union jobs.
Fearing for some 8,000 pensions under U.S. Steel, the city formed a steel committee and pushed the federal government to make the 2007 agreement it signed with U.S. Steel public. That's when the American company bought Stelco. But earlier this year, a court judge ordered that the agreement would remain sealed.
And last September, U.S. Steel Canada entered Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCCA) bankruptcy protection proceedings, citing years of losses totalling some $2.4 billion since 2009. The goal is to sell its Canadian operations by the end of October.
Eisenberger isn't the only one who expressed dismay at city hall on Wednesday, when the latest issue came up during a general issues committee meeting.
Terry Whitehead, councillor for Ward 8, called it "outrageous."
"The government has failed this city miserably," he said.
Scott Duvall, a Ward 7 councillor and NDP candidate for Hamilton Mountain, chimed in as well. "I'm absolutely appalled."