Alcoa Intalco Works, an aluminium smelter located in Ferndale, North America, is reportedly conducting its final round of layoffs this week; whereby, 700 employees are going to lose their jobs. The plant has been one of the main industries in Ferndale for over 50 years.
“We produce all the primary aluminum needed for wheels and stuff like that,” said Jason Swendt, an employee and one of the lucky few who could save his job at the plant through the rounds of layoffs.
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In April, Alcoa had announced a curtailment, leaving a bare minimum number of employees to keep the plant in operating shape, hoping that any company wills to purchase it.
This smelter is the last one in the west of Mississippi and one of just seven left in America. Most of the aluminium industry has shifted operations from the United States to China due to government subsidies and little environmental regulations.
“We’re a huge tax base for the city of Ferndale, so I’m not sure where they’re going to find that revenue when they lose it,” said Swendt.”
Mayor Greg Hansen described this as disastrous for the city of Ferndale. However, he said that he would now concentrate on how to help the families of the 700-laid off employees.
“We’ve kind of struggled to figure out what the impacts will be and really we’ve been focused mostly on how do we make sure to wrap our arms around those families that are losing their jobs and trying to transition into something new. That’s been our primary focus,” Hansen said.
He also said, “These are individuals with industrial skills and very specific knowledge in a normal economy there would be lots of opportunity, but right now, when businesses are kind of putting a halt on all hiring and all growths because there’s just so much uncertainly in the economy, I think it really makes it difficult for them.”
Nonetheless, Greg Hansen is confident that Ferndale will drive the industrial force even if the plant shuts down.
“We make things in Ferndale, we’re an industrial town and we will continue to be. And we just want to look for the ways that those employees are going to be able to transition into whatever the next big thing is in Ferndale and Whatcom County.”
To save jobs at the plant, employees, along with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW union), are writing letters to Senators, Representatives, President Donald Trump, and Alcoa CEO Roy Harvey, said Swendt.
Alcoa, in its second-quarter report, said the company spent $27 million on the curtailment process, part of that being severance packages for laid-off employees.
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