Workers laid off from Sparrows Point to receive job retraining

$3 million grant from U.S. Department of Labor will assist 885 people affected by closure of steel mill

Hundreds of workers laid off from the Sparrows Point steel mill will receive job retraining and other services under a $3 million U.S. Department of Labor grant announced Monday.

The funding will expand job-related services under the National Emergency Grant program to 885 workers affected by the closure. Mill owner RG Steel LLC, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May, is in the midst of laying off nearly 2,000 workers, almost all of its workforce at Sparrows Point.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, who had pushed for the grant along with Sen. Ben Cardin, called the funding "a critical lifeline" for the workers. "They have earned these crucial benefits," Mikulski said.

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