Health & Fitness
Back to Work at the Point.
My thoughts about the steel mill, and going back to work after a year long lay-off. Troy W. Pritt
The contract is signed, the new owners are in place, and now is the time for all the steelworkers to return to work. After a year of uncertainty at the plant, we now have new owners and steel is flowing through our mills once again.
In an age when the manufacturing of anything in this country has become a thing of the past, it is good to see the Point returning to its former self. Like many of my union brothers and sisters, I never thought we would see the mills start again.
Thankfully RG Steel sees the potential that Sparrows Point has to offer and that will be good news for all of the steelworkers that have seen long lay-offs and hard times over the past year.
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The Sparrows Point Steel Mill is a huge part of our history as Dundalkians and as Americans. On that small parcel of land, over the past hundred years – through the blood and sweat of the American steelworkers – not only was our town built, but also our nation. From the ships that were built to defend this country to nails that we used to build our homes, the steel was forged at Sparrows Point.
Our fathers went to war to defend this great country, and came home to the work in these mills. It is hard to imagine the many lives that have been touched by the Point. I often wonder what it must have been like to work at the Point when tens of thousands of people were employed there, and what the mills must have been like when every part of the massive buildings was used to make steel.
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The Point employs just a small percentage of people now compared to the glory days of Bethlehem Steel, but the people that it does employ are just as dedicated to the idea of made in America.
Hopefully, we have seen the last for sale sign in front of our plant. In the 15 years that I have been employed at Sparrows Point the plant has had five different owners. The owners came and went but the workers have stayed and the spirit of the American steelworker has not been broken.
It’s a new day at Sparrows Point and a new beginning for all of its workers. No one knows what the future holds for Sparrows Point, but it feels good to return to work again.