GRANITE CITY, Ill. – Two years after the last blast furnace was idled, U.S. Steel now says it will stop processing steel in Granite City. Eight hundred jobs are guaranteed through 2027, but union leaders warn families that they could still take a financial hit.

Union leaders say U.S. Steel once symbolized the rebirth of American steel. President Donald Trump even came here in 2018, and praised the hundreds of jobs returning. But on Wednesday, union members and city leaders called U.S. Steel’s latest announcement a gut punch.

“The company is changing some wages, mainly revolving around incentives and the earnings around incentives, so there is potential there will be some monetary losses for the members over the course of the two years,” Jason Fernandez, grievance chair for United Steelworks Local 1899, said.

After meeting with company executives last week, union leaders said the company will stop processing slabs in Granite City by the end of October.

“Our goal now is to meet as a union, coordinate, try to facilitate what our questions are gonna be, and try to get some things going for a lot of our members inside this plant prior to the end of October,” Fernandez said.

Instead of running steel through the finishing mills, workers will be reassigned to maintenance under a national security agreement that keeps jobs on the books through 2027. But that doesn’t mean paychecks will stay the same.

Union officials say the slabs that once came to Granite City will now be redirected to other facilities, including a plant in Alabama.

Fernandez said the Granite City plant is no longer going to get the slabs because of an NSA agreement. The stabs will be sent to Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania and Gary Works in Indiana.

Beyond 2027, the concern is what happens next.

“We are going to have potential nonworking opportunities come June 2027; that’s the fear,” Fernandez said

With more than 800 workers employed, the economic impact could ripple through Granite City and beyond.

For now, Granite City Works will be operational, but the union says with no steel slabs to process after October, the question remains how long can the plant last and the community hold on.