UPDATE: EVRAZ announces layoffs in Pueblo
EVRAZ announced Wednesday it will layoff 70 workers, citing low oil prices for a slump in production at its seamless pipe unit.
A spokesperson for the company said the unit will be “idle.” There is a chance it will reopen in the future, though there is no telling how many people it would hire once operations resume, the spokesperson said.
The company told The Pueblo Chieftain that a slowdown in U.S. oil and gas drilling and an influx of foreign steel into the U.S. market are to blame.
EVRAZ temporarily laid off around 200 workers last year.
State Rep. Daneya Esgar of Pueblo told KRDO NewsChannel 13 in a statement that she is disappointed by this news, that she stands with steelworkers in Colorado and that she will continue to fight for better jobs.
Both of Esgar’s grandfathers were Pueblo steelworkers.
Former EVRAZ employee Bob Miller worked for the company during the height of steel production in Pueblo.
“At one point, it seems like everyone worked at the steel mill, either your dad or your uncle or in my case, me, someone was linked to the mill. It was the foundation, the bedrock to Pueblo. Pueblo is known as the Steel City,” said Miller.
Miller said there is no telling what this announcement could mean for employees in the future.
“Sometimes they say things are going to close, but maybe they close temporarily. It’s also depending on the oil industry and things like that. So to really know what’s going to happen, it’s kind of a guess I suppose. But it seems like, in the case of the mill, it’s had up and downs but hopefully it will come back up,” said Miller.
Local restaurants say layoffs have a big impact on their bottom line.
At Estela’s Mill Stop Cafe, owner Dale Mares said the news is disappointing, but the restaurant has weathered worse layoffs.
“We started in 1982 when the steel mills started laying off. People told me the steel mills aren’t going to make it,” said Mares. “But 34 years and I am going strong thanks to them.”
Mares said with more than three decades serving meals to steel workers, he’s seen it all.
“Certain units close down, come back. Close down, come back. But we just keep hanging in there the best we can,” said Mares.
Down the street at the Pasta Cottage, worker Lucas Topping said the restaurant’s lunchtime crowd is almost entirely mill workers. He said the restaurant keeps tabs on layoffs at EVRAZ because of the impact it has on the eatery.
“It’s a little scary for us, you know. This is a small family-owned thing so that means they aren’t going to get money and so not a lot of people are going to come spend money,” said Topping.
A spokesperson for EVRAZ said the company employees close to 1,200 people in Pueblo.
