Prime Minister: “U.S. Steel has been milking Slovakia”

The Košice-based branch of the American metallurgic company U.S. Steel has been suffering from investment debt, according to the Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD). This has also contributed to the Košice steel mill's current difficult situation on the steel market and its intention to reduce the number of employees. "The American management should bear in mind that the Slovak factory served them well as a dairy cow and instead of properly investing in it, they did not do so," said Pellegrini after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting in the Košice district. Trade unionists from U.S. Steel Košice came to meet the Prime Minister and gave him a petition signed by more than 8,800 employees from the Košice factory and its subsidiaries. The signatories are calling for fair business practices in the European steel industry, with an emphasis on social impacts for employees and their families. It was prompted by the U.S. Steel Košice management announcing mass lay-offs of 2,500 people by the end of 2021. The company plans to reduce its workforce due to the poor situation on the steel market.