U.S. Steel Blames Loss on Worker Benefits

[mbperrin]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4251219

NEW YORK (Reuters) - United States Steel Corp. (X.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday reported a fourth-quarter loss from a year ago profit, hurt by pension and healthcare costs......

Those greedy workers! Wanting health and pension benefits! Damn them!

[Frangible]

1. With outsourcing the way it is now

You can't ask for benefits. Especially in industry / IT.

I'm a software developer and my insurance, sometimes, pays 40% and has a massive deductable. But I can't bitch. I was lucky to get this job and there aren't any others. If I lost my job, I'd be screwed.

The IT industry is tanking. Just like industry, it's being outsourced; industry to mexico and china, IT to india.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this company follow suit. As long as enough businesses in an industry abuse low-paid foreign workers, they can force everyone else that makes a similar product to as well.

In the long term, it will just drag American labor down to China/India's level. Yay?

[Westegg]

2. Remember Homestead!

Hell, U.S. Steel's been doing that (or comparable) since the 19th century, when it was Carnegie Steel, run by Andy Carnergie and Henry Clay Frick.

[MasonJar]

3. Just a greedy bunch of Bush-supporting CEO patriots.

[forgethell]

4. I worked for US Steel

many years ago. A hard-assed outfit. but I also observed the Steelworkers. As bad as management was at USS, it must be said that the union brought many of its problems on itself. When hourly guys made more that the superintendent of the mill, when they went to sleep in the locker room for 4 hours of their shifts because they had made their 100% incentive, when they went to court to prevent the firing of guys that showed up to work drunk (in a steel mill), then yes, I would say they shared the blame for a lot of the steel industries problems.

I don't know what the current situation is, as I have been out of the steel industry for 5 years now, and out of unionized plants for longer, and good riddance to both. But I doubt either has improved much.

[mmm]

5. That is a lie. Truth is, when other American steel plants

were modernizing infrastructure to keep competitive in the world market, US Steel was not. Rather, the corporate boys at US Steel
decided to drain the company dry on the backs of the workers, using tariff diplomacy to keep her afloat as long as possible.
There are American steel producers operating
at a profit AND offering full benefits. It can be done.