Newsday (New York) | By Deborah Barfield Berry | February 2, 2004
Georgetown, S.C. - James Sanderson's cell phone rang just after noon. A local reporter was calling to find out if he had heard about a potential buyer for the closed steel mill.
Sanderson, the steelworkers' local union president, quickly made some calls. No news. Sanderson is still anxiously awaiting word that some company will buy Georgetown Steel and put its 600 steelworkers back on the payroll.
"I'm waiting for that phone call to say the deal is done," said Sanderson, 51, who lost his job after 30 years at the mill. "That would mean a lot to the people of Georgetown, the community and to those who aren't working."
Georgetown offers a snapshot of the woes facing several communities in South Carolina, where the economy and jobs are among voters' most pressing issues. This small city on the South Carolina coast was hard hit when Georgetown Steel closed in October. The closing sent ripples through the community, already suffering from years of job losses.
Democratic presidential candidates hoping to win voters over in Tuesday's crucial primary have honed in on that concern, stumping throughout the state and outlining plans to protect and create jobs.
Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) visited Georgetown yesterday as part of his campaign to save and create jobs in the rural South. Weeks ago, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean came promising to fight against the use of child labor overseas. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), who has bowed out of the race, came touting his opposition to NAFTA. The Rev. Al Sharpton plans to visit today to talk about job creation.
"If it takes bringing national figures to Georgetown, South Carolina, to see that people are suffering, having their economic security pulled from underneath them ... then I welcome all of the candidates," said Marilyn Hemingway, who is coordinating Edwards' campaign effort here.
But residents warn that the loss of jobs should be seen as more than campaign rhetoric. "The people down here are angry," Sanderson said. "Angry as hell that their damn jobs are leaving this country."
For the third straight year, South Carolina has suffered job losses - 22,300 last year alone, nearly 18,000 in manufacturing. "Trade has really, really devastated us," said Ted Halley, executive director of the state's Employment Security Commission. "Textile is a prime example. ... Once they [manufacturing jobs] disappear, they're gone."
Over the past five years, Georgetown, once home to a T-shirt manufacturer and a wiring device company, lost thousands of jobs as companies closed or moved overseas. The 14.5 percent unemployment rate in Georgetown County, where the city is located, is nearly three times the national rate.
The high unemployment in Georgetown has forced some residents to leave, city officials say. Over the past decade, the population has plunged from 12,000 to 8,000.
Behind the union hall, smoke from International Paper, now the area's largest employer with 600 workers, swirls high into the air. "They're lucky," said Darrell Todd, nodding toward the mill. "They're working."
For 34 years and eight months, Todd, 55, worked at Georgetown Steel operating a 140-ton crane to move steel from furnaces to casting machines. It's a skill, he believes, that can eventually land him another job. But right now he's considering other options.
Meanwhile, Todd, like many steelworkers, is wading through the rhetoric of candidates to see who will ensure American jobs are protected. "Right now, Dean is the front man" on the issue, Todd said.
The union hall, a beige aluminum-sided building, is only feet away from the mammoth rusty-colored steel mill. The hall, where the Rev. Jesse Jackson also visited recently, has been the gathering spot for laid-off union workers as they meet to hear the latest news on the steel mill, swap job leads and debate candidate positions on health care, trade and job creation.
For months, South Carolina, a crucial southern state in the presidential election, has been the destination for national politicians. President George W. Bush visited a new BMW plant in the northern part of the state in November to tout economic growth.
Republicans and Democrats in the state criticized Bush for that visit and free trade policies that they say give foreign companies an unfair advantage. They point to the trade agreement that lifted restrictions between Canada, Mexico and the United States, and allowed companies to relocate factories to Mexico, where labor is cheaper. Many textile companies, however, went to Central America and the Caribbean.
Bush defends his policies and recently touted a national plan to increase funding to retrain workers.
"Georgetown reflects what George Bush has forgotten," Hemingway said.
Steelworkers and others laid off here say they have few job choices, especially ones that pay the higher salaries of steelworkers. Some have enrolled in retraining programs. Others are still searching.
"There's nothing here. Even the paper mill is laying off," said Rodney Russ, who lost his job of 17 years when Cooper Wiring Devices closed last year.
Russ, who has managed on severance pay and a settlement from a worker's compensation case, said his money is quickly dwindling. Without health insurance, his doctor visits and medicine to treat his diabetes can run as much as $300 a month. "That money doesn't last forever," he said. "I need a job with benefits."
Instead of celebrating 30 years at Georgetown Steel this year, Joe Gamble, a crane operator, enrolled in a program in December to earn a national certification in welding. Still, he's hoping a company will buy the mill and call him back to work.
Gamble recently turned down a job offering $12 an hour without benefits, a far cry from the average $18-an-hour job steelworkers earn. With benefits that wage was worth $28 an hour, say union officials. "I've got to work someplace. I'm too young to retire," said Gamble, 49, who like many here rely on unemployment. "There's no sense of me going to McDonald's. I'm not going to flip hamburgers."
The loss of property taxes and other fees from larger employers like Georgetown Steel has city officials scrambling this year to find ways to fill a $500,000 shortfall. The mill paid $350,000 a year in property taxes. Officials are looking at dramatic cuts, including in the police and fire departments to fill the gap.
Peggy Wayne, a city councilwoman, said the job losses have also had an impact on businesses. Sales at her own store, Wayne's Sporting Goods & Trophies, plummeted $50,000 last year. "When people don't have a job, they don't spend money," she said.
Some businesses and economists say Georgetown, about 30 miles from Myrtle Beach, could use the situation to diversify and rely more on tourism. Georgetown is still in a "woe-is-me state," said Gary Loftus, director of the Coastal Federal Center for Economic and Community Development at Coastal Carolina University. "Psychologically, they're taking a hit ... (but) it's not a disaster, it's an opportunity."
Meanwhile, back at the union hall, Sanderson handed out fliers offering jobs at a Virginia steel mill. "When they get to the point where they can't provide for their families, they may have to uproot," said Sanderson, who is weighing his own options. "It's not quite at that point yet. They still have hope that something is going to happen here."Newsday (New York):
