Baltimore County is holding information fairs this week to assist the more than 1,000 workers who have been laid off from the Sparrows Point steel mill as part of a temporary idling of the primary steelmaking operations.
The fairs will be held Thursday and Friday at the Severstal Sparrows Point Conference and Training Center, with morning and afternoon sessions each day.
Each session will include presentations about unemployment insurance, federal Trade Adjustment Act benefits, union benefits and health care benefits.
Other sessions will address how laid off workers can cope with stress and give information on housing assistance and foreclosure prevention, career services and educational opportunities.
The Russian owner of the plant, Severstal, announced last year that the mill's blast furnace and hot strip mill will not be in operation until at least March. Tin making and some cold mill operations continue at the plant.
"We encourage all Severstal employees to take advantage of the many free county and state services available to them," Baltimore County Council chairman John Olszewski Sr., who represents the Sparrows Point/Dundalk area, said in a statement. "These hard-working men and women have been the backbone of our community, and we need to do all that we can to assist them during this difficult time."
There is also a resource guide for employees at the Baltimore County website at http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/severstal.
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