By Michael Roknick
It�s been nearly five months since the United Steelworkers were given more than $50,000 on behalf of former Sharon Steel Corp. employees, and a former labor leader at the steelmaker has a plea to the union: cough up the dough.
�Let�s get a decision on this and get it done before we lose more of our members to death and before it gets even harder to find them,�� said Gene Bianco.
It was partly due to the efforts of Bianco that the union got the funds. As the last president of the main USW local at Sharon Steel, Bianco attended bankruptcy court hearings last summer urging that former employees and retirees get a slice of long-lost steelmaker funds that were discovered.
Attorneys for the defunct company and its creditors relented and agreed to give the union $52,447 out of nearly $600,000 that was discovered sitting in various accounts for more than a decade. The remainder of the funds went to unpaid attorneys fees stemming from the steelmaker�s bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy Judge Warren W. Bentz approved the deal and since then the USW has been sitting on the funds. Bianco said he�s been kept apprised of ongoing phone conferences among USW leaders and its attorneys on what to do with the money but no decision is at hand.
One idea kicked around, Bianco said, was to directly hand over the money to former Sharon Steel union workers. But when considering there are conservatively 3,000 former workers and retirees, that would mean an individual would get less than $18 � provided they all could be found and none of the money was eaten up in administrative expenses.
Another idea tossed around was using the funds to stage a local wellness clinic for former employees and retirees to get a free medical checkup. That suggestion gets a thumbs down from Bianco.
�I don�t think doctors need the money,�� he said. �If they want to give the money directly back to the members I�m fine with that. But if they can�t find the people and don�t know what to do with the money then why not give it to the retirees club?��
The Sharon Steel Retirees Club is a local group composed of former Sharon Steel union workers and typically meets monthly. The club hosts numerous events such as lunches and bus trips.
A call to the USW�s legal department for comment went unreturned.
Sharon Steel had numerous owners and filed for its first Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 1987 when it was controlled by financier Victor Posner. Shortly after its main Farrell steel plant was sold to New York investment firm Castle Harlan Inc. as part of that bankruptcy reorganization, the mill entered its second bankruptcy in November 1992 and the plant closed later that month.
During its final days, Sharon Steel employed 2,700 employees, making it Mercer County�s largest employer. Sold a couple times since the second bankruptcy, the plant now operates as Duferco Farrell Corp., which is not involved with the ongoing case.
�I just want to get this resolved,�� Bianco said.
