But union officials said the past temporary layoffs have affected an average 275 employees a week.
"I think they're just following suit of all the other domestic steel companies because of what is going on with the economy," said John Cirri, president of United Steel Workers Local 9477, which represents Sparrows Point workers. "They're all laying off people."
Sparrows Point employed about 2,100 people at the end of last year, Baggett said. The temporary layoffs began there last month. Severstal North America is a division of Russian-based Severstal International, which bought Sparrows Point last year.
Black & Decker, one of only two Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the Baltimore area, eliminated about 125 positions in the United States this week, but said most of them were not in the Baltimore area. The company has faced a slowdown in sales because of the weak housing market and general economy.
It laid off about 10 percent of its work force in the first half of last year. It employed about 22,500 before this week's layoffs, down from 25,000 early last year.
"Our markets have taken a tremendous downturn," company spokesman Roger Young said. "We sell products related to construction and home improvement, and those markets have fallen off quite a bit."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
job cuts
* Erickson Retirement Communities: Laid off 260 of 13,000 employees Wednesday, most at the Catonsville corporate headquarters in areas such as construction, development and corporate support functions. Only a small portion of reductions were in the company's retirement communities, and none were in direct resident care or service jobs.
* Severstal North America Inc: Continuing temporary voluntary and involuntary layoffs at several plants, including Sparrows Point in Baltimore County. Layoffs include salaried and hourly workers. Union officials said past temporary layoffs have affected about 275 employees a week
* Black & Decker: Eliminated about 125 positions in the United States this week. Most were not in the Baltimore area.
