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RG Steel Furloughing 720 At Sparrows Point Plant

BALTIMORE (AP) -- RG Steel has alerted Maryland unemployment officials that it is furloughing about 720 workers at its Sparrows Point plant until March.

Workers told The Baltimore Sun that the company started informing them on Thursday not to come to work this week in what were then being called indefinite layoffs. The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation says the company told state officials on Friday about the furlough. Company officials have not answered media questions about the furlough.

DLLR spokeswoman Shannon Davis says the union estimates that as many as 2,000 workers could be furloughed. Workers can file claims online and through a dedicated phone line.

Renco Group, the parent of RG Steel, purchased Sparrows Point from Russian steelmaker Severstal in March. The plant was temporarily shut down last year.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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