PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Bethlehem Steel Corp. said Thursday that as many as 4,000 people will lose their jobs as a result of International Steel Group's buyout of the company.þþRobert S. Miller, Bethlehem's CEO and chairman, told employees Wednesday that 3,000 to 4,000 jobs will be cut. The higher figure amounts to 36 percent of Bethlehem's current work force of 11,000.þþMiller made the estimate on an employee hotline designed to update the company's employees on the pending sale, company spokesman Bette Kovach said.þþMiller told Bethlehem Steel employees that the bankrupt company would work with ISG and union officials to determine the exact number of jobs to be cut.þþISG Chairman Wilbur L. Ross Jr., incensed by Miller's comments, issued a statement noting, ``Mr. Miller will play no role in establishing manning levels at the new company.''þþ``There is no question that there will be more jobs at Bethlehem as part of ISG than there would be if Bethlehem tried to struggle along on its own,'' Ross said.þþUnited Steelworkers President Leo Gerard also criticized Miller's comments. ``Fortunately, the future of Bethlehem operations are now in the hands of our union and ISG,'' he said.þþNeither he nor Ross challenged Miller's estimate of job cuts at Bethlehem, which has about 11,000 remaining active employees.þþ``Regardless of whose name is on the door, significant reductions are coming, so I'll stop speculating,'' Miller said.þþIt is believed to be the first estimate on job cuts that Miller has given to employees.þþBethlehem Steel's board voted Saturday to accept Cleveland-based International Steel Group's $1.5 billion offer. The Bethlehem, Pa.-based company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2001.þþRoss -- who specializes in buying distressed businesses -- has said ISG would set aside $100 million for buyout offers to salaried and hourly employees.þþMiller did not indicate how many jobs might be cut at specific plants.þþAdding Bethlehem Steel's plants would make ISG the largest U.S. steel maker with an annual production capacity of 16 million tons.þþThe deal would keep Bethlehem Steel's Burns Harbor Division in northwest Indiana, Sparrows Point Division near Baltimore and smaller plants in Lackawanna, N.Y., and Coatesville and Conshohocken, Pa., operating.þþThe company's rusting mill along the Lehigh River in Bethlehem, 50 miles north of Philadelphia, has been shut down since 1995. Only about 300 administrative employees remain at the company's headquarters.þþISG will make the final decision on how many employees will lose their jobs and from what locations, but Bethlehem officials might provide recommendations if asked, Kovach said.þþOn Friday Bethlehem Steel said it planned to terminate the health benefits of retirees.þþMiller said the company is trying to gather information that might be helpful to retirees and could offer health care and life insurance at a group rate, but Bethlehem won't contribute to the plan.þþ``The next few months will be filled with change,'' Miller told employees. ``As things unfold, we will keep you informed. In the meantime, work safely and be on the lookout for your co-workers. Changing times can be distracting times, and we need to focus on our jobs, our safety and our customers.þþþþ
Source: NY Times
