Flat and efficient organizational structure

Last week you had a chance to read the article about the project "Flat and Efficient Organizational Structure" written by Martin Pitorak, Vice president Human Resources.
As you have heard from Mr. Pitorak, we have an approved draft schedule, but remain flexible as we move through the project. We also believe that open communication is critical with all our employees especially the Trade Union Council, and we will continue to share vital information. You should also know that this not a new process for us. Good companies with effective leadership continuously challenge themselves to benchmark performance against the competition and find innovative ways to improve the business process and insure the long term success of company for the good of all shareholders including our employees and the communities where we work and live.
An example of our continuous improvement process was the recently completed Early Retirement Program. There was significant work done in advance to identify projects that would allow us to thoughtfully implement the ERP Program. This work and implementation occurred over several years. Over 1 400 people were allowed to leave voluntarily. This thoughtful process turned out to be well timed given the economic crisis that we now face. Part of the current project is directed to continue that work in our operations to identify efficiencies that are needed to finish the work from the ERP Program as there were more employees left the company than originally planned.
As you also heard, the second part of the project is designed to make sure that we have an organizational structure that is the most innovative and efficient possible. Only the leanest and most agile companies survive through all market conditions and thrive when markets are favorable. Our goal is to make sure that we have our best people, well positioned and empowered to create value today and create the future for tomorrow. We have designed this process in a way that we can accomplish this goal in a thoughtful and well planned project.
As I committed earlier, we will continue to communicate on this and other matters important to the company and our employees.

George F. BABCOKE

Economic crisis meeting in Lisbon

U. S. Steel Kosice Vice President Human Resources Martin Pitorak took part last week, as a member of the Slovak delegation, in the European Regional Meeting which was held in Lisbon, Portugal. This event is organized every four years by the International Labor Organization (ILO), and it is a forum for selected representatives from more than 50 countries in Europe and Central Asia.
The latest meeting, the eighth in the series, was attended by Martin Pitorak representing employers in Slovakia as a delegate of the Employers' Union of the Republic, and the discussions concerned the UNO reforms and the ongoing ILO decentralization, but mainly the complicated social and economic situation at this time of economic and financial crisis. He returned with the information that, according to ILO General Secretary Juan Somavia, unless appropriate measures are taken, the number of unemployed will increase by 50 million people due to the crisis in Europe alone.
The participants in the Meeting emphasized the importance of social dialog as the key means of forming strategies aimed at fighting the recession and ensuring implementation of agreements between governments, employers and trade unions. They all agreed that the primary goal should be the protection of open markets.