LORAIN — By next week union leaders expect the bulk of steelworkers laid off from U.S. Steel’s tubular plant in Lorain to have returned to work.

Don Golden, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1104, said about 50 employees have lost their recall rights because they remained on probation and would have to start over in the employment process.

The union represents about 460 employees at Lorain Tubular, many of whom had been out of work. Workers have been slowly returning over the past few months, Golden said.

U.S. Steel spokeswoman Erin DiPietro said the company doesn’t comment on operations except when discussing its quarterly projections and results.

In the company’s last quarterly report, released last month, the company announced its tubular had returned to profitability in the last quarter of 2009.

Read Wednesday’s Chronicle for more on this story.