I think, like all of us, I was shocked by the recent news that the last vestiges of Weirton’s Steel industry will be idled in April. I should rephrase, I was shocked but not surprised. I think like most who have grown up here, issues dealing with the steel industry over the years, including foreign steel imports, tariffs, dumping of steel, etc., have been in our lexicon for decades. I can’t remember a time when these things weren’t issues for our community.

I am sure for some the news of the decision to idle the remaining operations at Weirton was reminiscent of the event that happened on March 2, 1982, when Weirton’s parent company National Steel announced that it would limit any capital investments in the Weirton facility and would like to sell the plant due to changes in the national economy and recession that took place in the 1970s and early 1980s.

That decision kicked off the effort for Weirton employees to explore and execute the ESOP, or Employee Stock Ownership Plan. To capture this history, Weirton Steel produced a film called “On Their Own Again,” the story of Weirton’s ESOP. It is a fantastic film that gives a great insight into the very real and difficult situation that the mill faced in those years. My colleague, Rick Smith, who worked on the film, completed it at the end of 1983. It’s inspiring to see how the employees came together to make the largest ESOP in history a reality.

I asked my dad, who started at Weirton Steel in March of 1968, about that time. He said if one wanted to stay in Weirton, you really didn’t have a choice than to go for the ESOP. The biggest change for the workers was the concessions one had to take, mainly around a 30 percent loss of compensation. In 1982, Weirton Steel employed 8,000 people, and many, if not all would have been out of a job if the mill closed.

Weirton had been on its own before. The mill was started in 1905 in Clarksburg, W.Va., and moved to Holliday’s Cove in 1909. The mill was on its own for 24 years until National Steel was created in 1929 by E. T. Weir with Weirton as the keystone. Weir was chairman of the board at National with J. C. Williams, who took over operations in Weirton. This history is what made the split from National even more difficult. But the folks of Weirton came together, agreed with the concessions and on Jan. 11, 1984, the separation was final from National. Weirton Steel remained profitable through the 1980s and 1990s. But in the late 1990s, again the issue of foreign steel imports was affecting the economy and Weirton Steel.

Events and rallies were held for area people to show their support. I remember the big rally that was held in November of 1998 at Cove Field with the cry “Stand up for Steel.” I remember the many thousands of people who were there to voice their support for the steel industry, myself included. Speakers included U.S. Representative James Traficant of Youngstown; W.Va. Gov. Cecil Underwood; U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan and Bob Ney, in addition to company and union officials.

In February of 1999, buses departed from the community center to go to a rally in Washington, D.C., to stand up for steel. I remember that day and knew many who had gone to support measures to stop foreign steel dumping and the like. My mother went to the rally in Washington with her Leadership Weirton class. What a coincidence that this year I am in Leadership Ohio Valley dealing with many of the same issues that were on the forefront then.

During that time too, the union sought to give kids a chance to let their voices be heard. It wasn’t just those who had positions of authority who made the headlines. The union sent officials to schools on both sides of the river to talk to classes about what the possible implications could be for our town and industry if things went on unchecked. In the Jan 19, 1999, editions, the Herald-Star and Weirton Daily Times included a special supplement called “The Valley’s Rally,” which included letters from local children addressed to President Bill Clinton to stop illegal dumping of steel in this country. I forgot until now that my letter was published: “Dear President Clinton, My name is P.J. Zuros. I am 11 years old. I am in the 5th grade. I attend Liberty Elementary School in Weirton, West Virginia. I want to invite you to Weirton to see the effects of steel dumping. My dad and other Weirton Steel employees are laid off. If the steel mill gets shut down our school’s partner in education, Weirton Steel, will be gone. People will move away. Our city’s stores will lose. You came to our town during your campaign and said this would never happen. The workers of Weirton Steel believed you. Please put an end to foreign steel dumping. Save Weirton Steel! Save Weirton Steel! Save steelworkers jobs! Save our town!”

Despite the letters and national attention, Weirton Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2003. ISG, the International Steel Group, purchased the facility in 2004. It was sold to Arcelor Mittal in 2005 then became part of Cleveland-Cliffs. After many layoffs, closures and downgrades, the mill no longer made steel. Today, unless something drastic happens, in April the last remaining operating components of the mill will close their doors after 119 years as a steel mill and 115 at this site.

It’s a sobering reality because this is the end of a chapter in our community. Like my family, most of us came to the valley because of the opportunities the mill provided. My great-grandfathers were working in the mill as early as the 1920s and with the closure, that part of our history is over.

Growing up, one of my favorite books was “No Star Night,” by Anna Egan Smucker. At the end of the book, she writes that no children live in the town, inspired by Weirton, anymore because the mills are closed. When it was announced that the mill would be closed a few weeks ago, my wife read the story to our 4-year-old daughter, Stella. After she finished the story, my daughter said “Mommy I’m here,” in response to the end of the book. That sentiment from my dear daughter gives me hope.

We can’t rely on industry, or politicians to save our town, we have to work together to make Weirton and our valley the best place we can make it. Our people are what makes our town special. We are quite practically on our own again. If we come together, we will persevere well into the future.

(Zuros is the Hancock County administrator)