Jan. 3--GRANITE CITY -- A metro-east steel foundry has notified Madison County officials that it will cut 363 jobs by the middle of next month.

Matt Jones, assistant director of the Madison County Employment & Training Department, said Chicago-based Amsted Rail, originally known as American Steel Foundries, filed a notice last month with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

The notice indicated that the steel foundry will be laying off the workers by Feb. 16.

Human resources official Deb Talbot and benefits administration manager Matt Ferguson, both of whom work at the Granite City plant, declined comment Friday.

Calls to the company's Chicago headquarters were not returned Friday.

Jones said he had heard business had slowed and that the steel foundry, at 1700 Walnut St., had just laid off 130 employees in November.

"I think the (layoffs) are attributed it to the economy," Jones said. "They had laid off 130 in November. They had about 1,000 at one time. This will cut them in half."

Jones also said his office was notified of the job cuts because under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, displaced workers can get job training assistance from state and local agencies.

The Granite City steel plant casts steel components for railroad cars. The company recently changed its name after about eight years under ASF-Keystone. The Granite City company was founded in 1902.

The layoffs come as the company has acquired another business. Three weeks ago, AirBoss of America Corp. sold its Kansas City-based railway track fastener manufacturing business to Amsted Rail for $6 million. The business will continue to operate under the trade name AirBoss Railway Products.

Job cuts also have struck the city's largest steel-making operation. On Dec. 2, U.S. Steel Corp. announced that it was temporarily laying off more workers and suspending operations at its Granite City plant along with two other Midwest steel mills. The move affects about 3,500 steel workers, including the 2,250 at Granite City Works. Just weeks before, U.S. Steel temporarily laid off 81 steel and iron division workers with less than three years of seniority at the Granite City plant.

Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 239-2526.

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