Big Steel's Problems Are Home Grown; Low-Cost U.S. Mills Play a Bigger Role Than Imports in Eroding Profits

It was a scene that summed up so much about this quintessential steel town, here where the Alleghenies roll seamlessly into Appalachia. Beneath a handwritten sign saying ''Buy America or Bye America,'' Mark Glyptis, a union boss and proud of it, was counseling two laid-off steelworkers at the union hall. Sunday hams are now available, he told them, but yes, unemployment benefits for Weirton Steel's idled workers were running dry.

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