The New York Timeson August 10, 1986:

"USS [U.S. Steel] is now facing an economic showdown with nonunion competitors, bankrupt competitors and foreign competitors. There are not enough seats in the steel lifeboat for everybody. When the union puts you out on a long strike, I hope you understand the risk that puts your jobs under." J. Bruce Johnston, an executive vice president of USX Corporation, in a letter to employees of its USS division, which closed its plants when a contract with the United Steelworkers expired.

• In the mid-1980s, what is the long-term play for the steel industry?