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Posted on 10/13/2003 8:41:32 PM PDT by dixie sass
A spurned suitor's last-minute attempt to obtain the Georgetown Steel plant has failed, and the bankruptcy of the plant's former parent company is marching to a conclusion.
The winding down of the 2½-year-old case doesn't give much comfort to plant workers, though, because they still see the mill's fate as uncertain.
"We're kind of cautious right now. We know the state of the economy we're in right now is depressed," said James Sanderson, president of United Steelworkers Local 7898.
The company's managers are beginning to make payments and distribute the assets according to a plan approved June 12 in federal bankruptcy court in Charlotte, N.C.
The June 12 court order also put an end to the attempt by Liberty 1/10 Acquisitions / the Georgetown plant to Midcoast Industries.
Joseph Wortley of Boca Raton, Fla., owner of Liberty, lost out in bidding for the plant in July 2002 to Midcoast owner Daniel Thorne.
Wortley filed a motion in bankruptcy court in May saying he had recently learned his attorneys in the bidding did not do all they should have done.
He also sued in Florida state court on that and other issues. The bankruptcy judge ordered the Florida courts not to take up the mill sale dispute, then overruled Wortley's motion.
Wortley said Tuesday he won't try through the courts to buy the mill.
"I fought as hard as I could fight it," he said. "It's a fine mill with good people and a good product."
Some Georgetown people were rooting for Wortley because they still doubt Thorne's intentions to keep the mill running.
"They have reason to be concerned," Wortley said.
An active conservationist and historic preservationist, Thorne has said repeatedly that he wants to operate the plant and make money, but workers don't see him putting action to his words, Sanderson said.
"Daniel Thorne is making us nervous and putting us on edge," he said.
Thorne could not be reached for comment, and mill officials did not return phone calls.
Workers are most nervous that Thorne hasn't gone forward with installing a rolling mill, which would be a major upgrade to the wire-rod plant.
The mill, taken from a former Georgetown Steel plant in Kansas City, Mo., is sitting in a warehouse in Andrews.
Thorne said earlier this year the plant isn't profitable enough for him to afford to install the rolling mill.
"I think he can't afford not to," Sanderson said.
The mill should invest some money into making itself more competitive and profitable for the future, he said.
The mill is operating with about 500 people, down 109 who were laid off in June five days after the bankruptcy court confirmed the plan of liquidation.
It had been the county's second-largest private employer and one of its biggest taxpayers.
Since those layoffs, Thorne "has cut off all communications with the union," so members don't know what is going on, Sanderson said.
"It seems like we have an unconcerned owner."
At the same time, Sanderson and others are working to persuade Gov. Mark Sanford to sign a bill that will give the plant the same tax credits offered to those that are reopened after closing down in bankruptcy.
Sanderson said he talked to Sanford last week and "he didn't completely rule out signing it," but said he is still considering it.
The tax breaks would help the mill be more competitive, Sanderson said. Thorne would be eligible for them after the bankruptcy is concluded.
Carter Elliott, a Georgetown attorney who represents a group of homeowners who sued the plant for pollution, said his clients are among those waiting to see the payouts. Those payments were held up, in part, until the bankruptcy plan was approved in June. They have not been paid nor told when or if they will be, he said.
Steel mill's importance
Georgetown Steel had been the county's second-largest private employer and one of its biggest taxpayers
That's one of the big reasons for our job-outsourcing and bancruptcies.
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God Bless This Man! |
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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AND SAY THANKS TO JIM ROBINSON! It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Level playing field with whom? What an idiot. Whatever little money the shareholders still have in that plant, they'll easily move into other investments. Where will he move and the families of those workers after the plant closes.
How is 10% cut better than a plant shutdown? These unions ALWAYS assume that the management is bluffign --- even in the ailing industries like steel. You never read stoties like this in the national press: NY Times stands with the masses of the proletariat.
What a sad story, yet the perps with not be punished.
As member and shop steward of the GMP Union, I don't see how they could not preserve jobs. That is one of a union's top concerns, that and benefits. You sometimes have to give to keep. Something is fishy there.
Without knowing all the particulars,,,it's hard to say. It just don't sound right though.
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