Talk:Hunedoara steel works

"compelled"
I think this word is too strong to characterize the migration of skilled young people from Romania's poorer rural regions to the bulging industrial centres. Every Romanian industrial centre has a significant population originating from these regions, as the natality was higher there and skilled workers had no way to exercise their skills. The phenomenon is not unlike the migration of Italians from Mezzogiorno to the industrial North (and the Americas), or the emigration of Romanians towards Italy and Spain during the past decade (not surprisingly, most of the emigrants originate from those same poor rural regions of Romania). The cited author is obviously using the word "obligat" (compelled) metaphorically, I see no reason to use it as such in a encyclopaedia that seeks to be objective. (Note also the recurring theme among certain inhabitants of formerly industrial centres - outside Moldavia, of course - that "the Moldavians were brought in by the communists to spoil our city", opinion that is also expressed in the source, with feigned sympathy for the immigrants). Anonimu (talk) 21:58, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * While not perfect, the new wording is certainly an improvement. Thank you. Anonimu (talk) 18:24, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Insufficient info on closing date
Three times now, my request that the claim "steel plant #2 was … shut down … 115 years to the day after the works were inaugurated" be justified with a date and citation have been reverted, most recently with the claim "inauguration usually means official opening, and it is irrelevant whether it was operational beforehand".

We shouldn't be making claims based on what we suppose usually happens elsewhere, and the actual date of inauguration is highly relevant if we are making a statement relating another date to it. An actual date of closing, with a citation, and not inference, is needed. Andy Mabbett ( Pigsonthewing ); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 23:20, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * The original source reads as follows: "The official inauguration was on 12 June 1884 and marks the birth of the Hunedoara iron works" ... "In June 1999, the Siemens Martin Steel Plant #2 was shut down, the unhappy coincidence being that the stoppage happened on 12 June 1999, the date that should have been the 115th anniversary of the start of the new plant". I see nothing wrong with the current wording: it says the shutdown happened in "mid-1999" (and it did take place gradually in May and June), being completed "on June 12, 115 years to the day after the works were inaugurated". I've actually just added "on June 12"; if you want to make further emendations, please do so. - Biruitorul Talk 17:15, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Gas masks
Actually I found where this was said in the source, but it's yellow journalism. The mask pictured there was standard Romanian army issue in case of chemical warfare. It was actually given to reservists too (during communism) to keep at home! Nobody would have worn such a thing unless ordered to; you'd have more trouble breathing with it (actually using its ~2Kg filer, not pictured there) than with any industrial pollution. Someone not using his real name (talk) 10:56, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

Need for a reference
There should be an (official) reference (e.g. police report, ) in the section 'Heritage preservation' to the statement that the thefts were carried out by 'local Roma'. Otherwise remove this statement.

From the article: Heritage preservation

The plant's administrative headquarters, which functioned as a school for workers prior to the Communist era, is considered a historic building, but once abandoned in the years after 1990, it entered a state of disrepair. Its stairs, cables, floors and furniture were stolen and sold by local Roma, its interior, sheltering stray dogs, strewn with documents and remaining furniture wrecked by those searching for valuables within, the attic ravaged and housing bats, the basement covered with crates and hundreds of gas masks once used by Patriotic Guards.[16]

Sebastian Bäckström (talk) 14:39, 27 May 2020 (UTC)