Foundry worker killed. Joe Hill Watch. No. 2.

Akron Beacon Journal-April 21,2006.
WHEELING, W.Va. - A foundry worker who was electrocuted had recently been forced to leave his job Mittal Steel's Weirton mill through a buyout offer as part of downsizing.

Independent Steelworkers Union spokesman Dave Gossett identified the worker as Gregory Allen Orwick, 47, of Hopedale, Ohio.

Orwick was one of about 70 union workers at Mittal Steel who didn't have enough seniority and were forced to accept the buyout, Gossett said. Another 871 workers voluntarily accepted the offer, which reduced Weirton's union work force to about 1,000.

Orwick was killed on Wednesday while working on a catwalk at the Centre Foundry & Machine Co. near Warwood, W.Va., according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Gossett said Orwick told him just three or four weeks ago that he had gotten the job at the foundry, but still hoped to be hired back at Weirton.

"It's a sad situation," Gossett said, "(He was) too young to die like that."

The death on Wednesday was the plant's seventh emergency in six months, said Sue Barazi, assistant area director for OSHA. Not all of those were accidents, she said. Some were minor incidents, including a 911 call for a heart attack.

Joe Hill Watch.