The news of U.S. Steel’s temporary but indefinite shutdown at Keewatin Taconite is sinking in around the Iron Range. The Hibbing Daily Tribune runs a story today that shows some of the reactions from miners and local officials. The summary: We’ve seen this before and we’ll get through it again. The only element of surprise in all this is how quickly the steel market turned from gangbusters to regular busters amid the now ongoing recession.
I’ve also heard some chatter questioning why U.S. Steel opted to idle KeeTac instead of MinnTac over by Mt. Iron where the current ore vein is deeper, but those are questions I suspect we’ll learn more about soon. The most important question is how long this shutdown will last. People are talking about concerns over extending the 26 week unemployment benefits period, so I think that’s a clue we may be in for something that lasts through the first quarter of 2009, if not much longer.
This is a time for defiance, not defeatism. What was true 100 years ago on the Iron Range remains true today. To the resilient go the right to survive. To the smart and resilient go the spoils. I’m working over this theme for my Sunday column.
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