The BlueScope Steel employee of 35 years choked back tears as he told the Mercury he was missing a special family occasion to be there - the future of his job, and those of the thousands of people he works with, meant that much to him.

"Today [Wednesday] is my granddaughter's birthday and I'm missing it, it's pretty tough," Mr Papaconstantinos said following the community gathering, tears welling in his eyes.

"I'd rather be with my granddaughter and my son and my family, but this is so important - they'll still be there tomorrow and I'll still see them."

Mr Papaconstantinos is just one of the human faces of the Illawarra's fight to #saveoursteelworks, one of an estimated 10,000 direct jobs in limbo while BlueScope Steel takes a "game-changing approach" to keep its Port Kembla steel operations viable.

The manufacturing giant confirmed in early June it needed to save about $130 million a year, downplaying earlier speculation it planned to cease steel manufacturing in the Illawarra by 2017.

"The mood is very sombre and it's very serious," the 59-year-old, who works at the No. 2 blower station, said of his workplace.

"I think people have had enough of the rhetoric of government, they've had enough of the rhetoric of their own bosses telling them it's this, telling them it's that.

"We just want people in government to spend our money on what we want it spent on ... spend it on Australian products, buy Australian steel for your infrastructure.

"Tony Abbott said he wants to be the infrastructure Prime Minister; well let him prove it, let the politicians prove it - sign on the dotted line."

In what appeared to be a sign of the times, Mr Papaconstantinos said the No. 1 power station, which had been operating since 1929, was shut down last week.

"I can see the rest of it going down [too], like death by 1000 cuts," he said.

"I think it's really important that we get on board [the steel campaign]; the whole community, not just steelworkers ... everybody who earns money from another worker who spends money. The money makes the world go around, doesn't it? So, if we don't get the money, we can't spend it here."

Mr Papaconstantinos cast his mind back to 1938-39, when the Port Kembla steelworks was sending pig iron to Japan so it could build its war machines and Bob Menzies came to "sort out the workers down here".

"It was called the Pig Iron Bob Dalfram Dispute and the workers stood up then to try and see fairness in the world," he said.

"And that's what we're going to do here, we're going to see fairness for our local community and the whole of the Illawarra."