BURNS HARBOR | ArcelorMittal on Friday said that as many as 2,444 employees at its Burns Harbor plant could be laid off indefinitely in January.

A prepared release from ArcelorMittal said the company notified the United Steelworkers and other stakeholders "about the potential for an indefinite layoff" of employees at the facility beginning in the second half of January.

The recent drop off in global steel production and the company's previously announced plan to reduce production in North American by 40 percent played into the decision, according to the release.

"Potential work force reductions are a direct result of the extraordinary economic environment we are facing, and the company hopes to return workers to their jobs as market conditions warrant," the release said.

Jim Robinson, director of United Steelworkers District 7, said the union is negotiating with ArcelorMittal to minimize the number of layoffs.

With those negotiations ongoing, it's uncertain how widespread the layoffs will be.

"Any discussion about the ultimate nature of what will happen is premature," Robinson said.

Word of the potential layoffs had spread through the Burns Harbor plant over the past few days, Robinson said.

"I'd be shocked if people at the mill didn't know," he said.

Union leaders at the international level "certainly knew what was going on," Robinson said. "They see the fact there aren't any orders. We're not making a lot of steel."

The global economic downturn that prompted the cut in steel production calls for action by elected officials, Robinson said.

"They need to step up to the plate and quit worrying about investment bankers and CEOs and start acting on behalf of average, middle-class American workers," Robinson said.

An employee at the Burns Harbor plant said Friday a text message from a co-worker with news that union grievers were meeting with the company at the union hall was a sign of what might come.

Up to then, "they'd told us the whole time they weren't expecting layoffs," said the worker, who asked that his name not be used out of concern for his job.

The worker, in his 20s, said he'd started at ArcelorMittal not too long ago, when steel production was on an upswing.

"As soon as I got the job I went out and got a nice apartment and bought myself a nice little toy, because I could afford it, because I worked at the mill.

"This job has impacted my life in such a positive way," he said. "The thought of losing it is unbearable."