BETTENDORF, Iowa — Nearly 100 local steelworkers are now out of a job. Sivyer Steel employees were told the company was not rebuilding following the fire on Sept. 18 and everyone's contract was terminated, according to an employee wishing to stay anonymous.
"I've been there for 16 years," the employee told News 8's Joe McCoy. "(I) really did not want to have to start over, but unfortunately life threw me a curve and now I have to deal with it." He says workers are being left in the dark.
"(It's) extremely frustrating not getting any answers from the owner or upper management," he said. "Anybody that has vacation time to be paid out, they're not paying them. They said they don't have the money to pay it."
The employee also informed News 8 that since the fire, employees were not told whether or not Sivyer Steel would re-open. They were being held in limbo.
"It's just the whole fact of starting over and having to work a different shift," he said. "I'm not as young as I used to be so there's a lot of things I can't do anymore. So it's just a wait-and-see game now. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do."
He says he's lucky to have a wife who's working, but not everyone there did.
"For people that live paycheck to paycheck, it's tough. It's really tough," he said. "But ya know, we have to survive. You just have to do what's best for you and your family."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. News 8 reached out to Sivyer Steel to confirm they are not reopening, but have not heard back.