Officials at the Kaiser Mead plant announced today that
they will temporarily close the plant.
At midnight, the final shift of workers will leave the building, and will not return
for at least 10 months. Four-hundred workers will be left without jobs. Steelworkers spent
the day emptying aluminum pots and preparing the plant for it's only shutdown in history.
It's a shutdown that the Susan Ashe of the Kaiser Corporation says is intended to save
vital power. "We're in a curious situation now, where power rates have
sky-rocketed through the roof and there's a real need in the region. There's not enough
energy to go around, particularly with a cold snap coming on, to meet everybody's
needs."
Kaiser officials also say workers' needs are important. They have said they will
provide the laid-off steelworkers with up to 70% of their full pay, as well as medical and
dental benefits during the closure.
The company says the closure is only temporary. They hope to reopen the plant in
October 2001. Meanwhile, steelworkers are planning to meet on Thursday to discuss the
closure in detail.
Tough times are nothing new to Kaiser Aluminum and its steelworkers. It has only been
two months since Kaiser steelworkers went back to work following their two year labor
dispute.