Allegheny Technologies Inc. anticipates laying off union and nonunion employees between now and late September because of declining customer demand during the coronavirus pandemic, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said the company would not disclose how many hourly and salaried employees will be affected.

“In response to continued challenging business conditions as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, we are taking further steps to reduce our costs and right-size our capacity to match customer demand,” Gillespie said.

She said the cost-cutting measures include “eliminating shifts and adjusting crewing across our Specialty Rolled Products and Standard Stainless Sheet Products businesses.”

The Hot Rolling and Processing Facility in Harrison, commonly referred to as the company’s Brackenridge works, is part of Specialty Rolled Products. Union employees there are represented by United Steelworkers Local 1196.

“We continue to fight to have the company reinvoke voluntary layoffs, which will give the senior guys the option of being laid off and help preserve the young guys’ jobs,” said Todd Barbiaux, president of Local 1196.

“If they lay off the youngest guys, chances are they might never come back. They are skilled and talented. Keeping them is very important for this company to succeed,” Barbiaux said.

Barbiaux said he did not know how many workers could be laid off. He said 524 people work at the plant, down from about 900 before a six-month lockout that began in August 2015 and more than 2,200 when he was hired in 1988.

The company adjusted the plant’s work schedule this week, going from a 15-turn schedule with three, eight-hour shifts five days a week to nine, 12-hour shifts each week, Barbiaux said.

Gillespie said all employees have been informed of their new schedules and how they’ll be impacted.

“These actions are necessary to position us to weather the storm in the short run and emerge from these difficult times as an even stronger company,” she said. “We recognize this is difficult news in an already challenging time for our employees and their families, and we will offer our support.”

In March, the company and steelworkers union announced they agreed to a one-year contract extension of their expired contract through Feb. 28, 2021. The extension came a week after the company said it was pausing negotiations because of the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of progress in the talks.

Tricia Hayes, cashier at the nearby Fuel Land, said it’s too early to tell how the layoffs will affect the surrounding community. The gas station draws customers from the plant, but Hayes said some businesses that once neighbored already have closed.

Knowing the layoffs are spurred by the covid-19 pandemic, Hayes said she is hopeful the plant’s employees could return to work as the economy recovers.

“Hopefully, they’ll be able to come back,” she said.

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