Comparison to Sysco rejected as inaccurate.

Comparison to Sysco rejected as inaccurate

As Algoma Steel was struggling with a cash crunch in February, unfavorable comparisons were being made with the money-guzzling steel operations of Cape Breton.

However, the comparison is soundly rejected in the Sault.

"I think we can come up with a viable business plan," said Robert Swenor, president and chief executive officer of Algoma Steel Corp. Ltd.

If not, Swenor said Algoma Steel should not be supported by government and allowed to become another Sysco.

Sysco is the short form of Sydney Steel Corp. of Sydney, N.S.

Since the Nova Scotian government took it over in 1967, the steel mill has consumed nearly $2 billion of public money.

Sysco employed 3,500 people when taken over, but now has only 700 workers.

Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Joe Fratesi stated that such a situation will not happen in his city.

Fratesi said the community, the company and the union accept that a government bail-out would do no one any good.

"So the solution that has to be found will not include a government bail-out," he said. "It's not going to happen. It doesn't have to happen with Algoma."

Fratesi pointed out that Algoma Steel's operations are not as outdated as Sysco's. They have been updated and produce a good product.

While noting that some product lines require a second look, Fratesi said Algoma Steel has a market problem, not a structural problem. "It will be addressed by making structural changes to meet the market problems."

The government of Nova Scotia helped Sysco because it would have closed without assistance, and a whole community would have been wiped out in a region of high unemployment, he observed.

The mayor also noted that when the CBC-TV program Venture reported on the Algoma situation, it initially wanted to compare it to Sysco.