TORONTO — Stelco announced on Friday that it will restart its Hamilton finishing operations and recall all 175 workers who were temporarily laid off, effective December 1.In a company statement, Stelco said it has reached agreements with a sufficient volume of customers to resume production of cold-rolled and coated steel. The firm described the move as a response to improved demand after it idled the Hamilton finishing lines on September 28, citing unsustainable market conditions.“We are pleased to announce that we have reached agreement with a sufficient volume of our customers to restart our Hamilton finishing operations and recall all 175 workers on December 1st,” the statement said. Stelco added that the restart will take several weeks but that it is recalling the workforce as a measure of good faith. All affected employees will be made whole retroactively for the standard wages they would have received during the layoff..WATCH: Mélanie Joly issues demand letter to Stelco owner over broken job and tariff promises.The company noted that customers had expressed interest in Stelco products despite what it called a lack of response from the federal government on tariff measures and continued offshore imports of galvanized steel.The September idling and layoffs triggered a public dispute with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly. Ottawa has argued that Cleveland-Cliffs, Stelco’s US owner, failed to meet employment undertakings given under the Investment Canada Act when it acquired the company in 2024. Joly demanded a concrete plan to return workers and warned of possible court action. Cleveland-Cliffs has maintained it remains in compliance with all 34 undertakings and has projected employment levels above the required minimums.United Steelworkers Local 1005 previously confirmed the 175 Hamilton layoffs and said no cuts had occurred at Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke. CEO Lourenco Goncalves had earlier said he hoped to recall the workers before Christmas if Canadian sales improved.
