With curtailment looming, Intalco workers to get this help from the federal government
Workers at the soon-to-be curtailed Intalco Works aluminum smelter will be receiving federal assistance for retaining and finding new jobs.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced its decision to grant Intalco workers help through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. Workers may be eligible for training, job search, relocation allowances, income support and other reemployment services, according to the agency’s website.
The approval, made on July 2, was announced on Wednesday, July 8. U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, one of several local legislators who wrote a letter requesting the workers receive the aid, said she was very pleased that the workers have been approved and she will continue to support them during this transition.
Alcoa announced on April 22 that it was curtailing operations at the aluminum smelter near Ferndale, resulting in the loss of around 700 jobs in the area. Layoffs began this spring, with the curtailment process expected to be complete at the end of this month.
In its application for the Trade Adjustment Assistance, Intalco union officials said the long-term subsidies from the Chinese government to their producers, as well as Alcoa moving operations outside the U.S., “have made it impossible for U.S. production facilities to compete in the global and domestic markets.”
In its April curtailment announcement, Alcoa cited declining market conditions as a main factor for the curtailment, with the facility losing $24 million in the first quarter of 2020. In May, Alcoa’s CEO Roy Harvey told the union that represents Intalco that curtailment was going forward because improvement efforts “have not yielded changes that would improve the competitiveness of Intalco in the foreseeable future.’’
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s website, Intalco has received Trade Adjustment Assistance three other times: In June 2003, January 2009 and January 2016.
The union that represents Intalco workers is the International Association of Machinists Local 2379.
