by Guest » February 7, 2018, 9:05 pm
The stockpiles of ore pellets and natural iron ore were drawn down during the late summer and early fall. I'm not sure if the railroaders that hauled the iron ore to the docks and the dock workers were part of the same union as the miners and if they weren't, if they honoured the striking miners picket lines. I would think they would have.
This is the reason for those American Seaway-size lakers going down to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to pick up iron ore pellets.
The ore pellets being moved from Picton, Ontario to Lake Erie ports were produced at Bethlehem Steel's Marmora Mine (Marmora, Ontario).
The thousand footers at the time (Stewart J. Cort, Presque Isle, James R. Barker, and Mesabi Miner) would have been laidup shortly after the start of the strike. The Belle River (now Walter J. McCarthy) entered service in late August of 1977 and, of course, was dedicated to the Western Coal trade for Detroit Edison as was the St. Clair. So they weren't affected.
If memory serves me correctly, 13,000 workers were employed in the Minnesota and Michigan iron ore ranges at the time. By the early 80s, their numbers began to decline as marginal taconite plants and mines were shut down.
The stockpiles of ore pellets and natural iron ore were drawn down during the late summer and early fall. I'm not sure if the railroaders that hauled the iron ore to the docks and the dock workers were part of the same union as the miners and if they weren't, if they honoured the striking miners picket lines. I would think they would have.
This is the reason for those American Seaway-size lakers going down to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to pick up iron ore pellets.
The ore pellets being moved from Picton, Ontario to Lake Erie ports were produced at Bethlehem Steel's Marmora Mine (Marmora, Ontario).
The thousand footers at the time (Stewart J. Cort, Presque Isle, James R. Barker, and Mesabi Miner) would have been laidup shortly after the start of the strike. The Belle River (now Walter J. McCarthy) entered service in late August of 1977 and, of course, was dedicated to the Western Coal trade for Detroit Edison as was the St. Clair. So they weren't affected.
If memory serves me correctly, 13,000 workers were employed in the Minnesota and Michigan iron ore ranges at the time. By the early 80s, their numbers began to decline as marginal taconite plants and mines were shut down.