U.S. Steel saga puts fate of Mon Valley Works back into spotlight

PITTSBURGH — The boardroom drama over the control of United States Steel Corp. could speed a decision on the fate of its longstanding Mon Valley Works, whose long-term future has often been debated.

U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) employs about 3,500 people in the Pittsburgh region, not only at its downtown headquarters and a research and development unit but most significantly in numbers and economic impact at the Mon Valley Works that have been the heart of the company for generations: the Clairton Coke Works, the Irvin Plant in West Mifflin and the Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock.

Shutdowns and losses of jobs at the Mon Valley Works under a new ownership group would be another blow for the steelmaking region, parts of which are still recovering from the plant closings of the 1980s and 1990s. It would also have a sizable impact on United Steelworkers, which represents many of those workers.