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Steelworkers hold annual memorial service

“AMAZING GRACE” — Bagpiper Stephen Murphy played “Amazing Grace” at the Steelworkers Memorial service held at the United Steelworkers Local 2911 worker memorial plaza at Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Thursday morning in Weirton. The names of 120 people who lost their lives during more than a century of steelmaking at Weirton were read. -- Paul Giannamore

WEIRTON — Union and management agree on one major point: The safety of workers, sending them home in the condition they came to work, is the most important part of any job.

That was the theme of the annual Steelworkers Memorial service, held Thursday morning at the USW Local 2911 worker memorial plaza at Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. There are 120 names of those who lost their lives in more than a century of making steel in Weirton.

Gary Mohr, vice president of supply chain management for ArcelorMittal USA out of Chicago, said the day also was ArcelorMittal Health and Safety Day across the company’s 13 locations in the U.S. and 60 countries around the world, to reflect and recommit to maintaining safe work habits.

“Like many of us, the 120 individuals who commemorate today went to work to support their families and themselves with an eye turned to the future. Tragically, what was supposed to be another day at work ended up in a loss of life,” Mohr said. “Consequently, these workers’ families changed forever and left behind a community and a company mourning.”

He said the steel industry remains a special business.

“Steelworkers take the Earth’s elements and turn them into highly engineered steel products that improve the quality of our life, such as steel products for packaging our foods and also steel grades for military specifications for the protection of our nation,” Mohr continued. “To achieve this, we use heavy, powerful equipment in our processes.”

He said in a split second at work, something could turn into a deadly situation.

But, he said, that’s the same in everyday activities, such as driving a car.

“When it comes to safety, there is nothing more true than we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper. Courage is required to call out and stop a dangerous action at work and outside of work,” he said. Good companies have good safety records, Mohr said. He suggested taking any shortcut when it comes to safety is a dangerous practice.

“That one time shortcut or redirection of your attention can kill you,” he said.

Mark Glyptis, president of United Steelworkers Local 2911, thanked the union and management safety teams at ArcelorMittal Weirton. He noted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created by Congress in 1970 to improve the lives of workers, but safety is not just OSHA’s job. Unions and companies have worked together since then, Glyptis said, on safety.

“OSHA can’t do it by itself. It has to be a team effort by union and management. We are very fortunate here at Weirton that we have a safety team that is unparalleled to any safety team in the country,” he said. Glyptis said at the company level, every meeting begins with a discussion of safety issues. He singled out the USW Safety Coordinator Darrell Curtis and company Safety Manager Jay Carter, as well as safety professionals Willie Paul and Josh Virtue, Louis Diaz and plant Manager Brian James.

“The mill continues and probably will forever have very serious dangerous work activities. The No. 1 concern of all of us in going to work is to make sure you go home in the same way that you went to work,” he said.

Glyptis said ArcelorMittal has a slogan, “Journey to Zero,” meaning the elimination of fatalities and serious injuries.

John Saunders, from the United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh, said ArcelorMittal Weirton does the best at safety.

“Nobody does it better at working together to make sure our workers go home safe every day,” he said. “It is the responsibility of the company and the union to provide that kind of leadership and training. We will never give up knowing how important safety is to our workers and our members.”

Saunders became emotional recalling six times during his career that he had to tell families they lost a loved one in a steel mill.

“I remember all six of them like they were yesterday. It stays there, there’s nothing like it. It’s like losing a member of your family,” he said.

“It’s something special when you look at that list,” Saunders said, indicating the memorial is, “way too big, but over the years, we’ve never forgot them from years ago to this day.” He noted many veterans worked in the mills, and they, nor the workers who lost their lives, should not be forgotten.

Pastor Gary C. Lilly read his poem, “Here’s to Weirton,” and recalled moving to Weirton in 1971 and learning about the mill.

“I took an organized tour of the mill and it scared me senseless. Every time I met a steelworker after that, I thanked them for the things they went through every day. The heat, the noise, it frightened me. I respect and admire all of you who do that,” he said.

The Revs. Robert Macek and Kenny Jacobs, both steelworkers, read the toll of the 120 dead, as Enid Williams tolled a bell for each name.

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