pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESNE WORKS
HAER No. PA-115
(Page 44)
Union #1256, under the leadership of Mike Bilcsik, began
exploring ways to secure the mill's productive future. Sensing
that the works was in imminent danger of permanent closure,
Bilcsik told the local's membership that the mill could be kept
open if they bought it from the corporation through the
establishment of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
Although an example of a successful ESOP existed at the nearby
West Virginia facilities of Wierton Steel, the plan never got off
the ground at Duquesne because of traditional biases among union
members which held that ESOP's were either used as a means to
bust unions or to allow companies to pass on liabilities.
Hopes for saving the mill were revived in the fall of 1984
through the activities of the Tri-State Conference on Steel, a
non-profit, public interest group. Composed of political and
church activists, Tri-State was organized in 1979 to save
threatened manufacturing plants in eastern Ohio, northern West
Virginia, and western Pennsylvania from permanent closure. In
1981, after failing to halt the spate of steel mill closings in
Youngstpwn, Ohio, the organization moved into the Pittsburgh area
where it worked to organize a strong grass roots foundation to
attract politicians and private institutions to its cause.
The impetus for Tri-State's campaign to save the Duquesne
Works occurred in October of 1984 when U.S. Steel announced plans
to demolish the hot end of the mill in November. Shortly
thereafter, the organization joined forces with Local Union #1256
and the national leadership of the USWA in what was dubbed the
"Save Dorothy" campaign. The basic plan involved buying the
Dorothy Six blast furnace, the basic oxygen shop, and the primary
mill for operations as a worker-owned establishment. To this
end, the coalition was able to attract financial support from the
Allegheny County Board of Commissioners and the Pittsburgh City
Council for a $150,000 preliminary feasibility study by
Locker/Abrecht Associates of New York. Under mounting pressure
from labor and community activists and politicians, U.S. Steel
agreed to postpone its demolition plans until February 2, 1985.
While the study was conducted, the coalition redoubled its
organizing campaign. A mass rally, held just outside the main
plant gate on January 18th, featured Jesse Jackson as the main
speaker. Joining him at the podium were State Representative
Thomas Michlovic of North Braddock, USWA international vice-
president Leon Lynch, and mayor of Pittsburgh Richard Calguiri.
Support from local, state, and federal politicians for the effort
dramatically increased when the results of the Locker/Abrecht
study were released on January 2 8th. Contradicting U.S. Steel
estimates which put restoration costs at $500 million to make the
mill competitive, the Locker/Abrecht study found that the mill
could profitably market semi-finished steel shapes with $90