ALCOA INC. Smelter won't reopen because of labor dispute

Workers refused to contribute to health care, so the plant is closed.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Alcoa Inc. will cut 400 jobs and will not reopen an aluminum smelter in Washington because of a labor impasse, the company said.
Alcoa will record a pretax charge of $20 million in the third quarter to pay for the layoffs, the company said.
Wenatchee Works in central Washington was idled in July 2001 when aluminum prices fell and the cost of energy skyrocketed. With wholesale aluminum prices up more than 20 percent in the past year, the company had sought to reopen the plant but demanded concessions from workers.
Workers have refused the make the concessions, including a contribution to health-care plans that amounted to an average of $72 per month, company officials said.
Union's position
Workers should not be asked to make concessions when the company is turning large profits, said Andrew Palm, chairman of negotiating panel for the United Steelworkers of America. Alcoa earlier this month reported net profits for the second quarter were up 87 percent.
"We reject the idea that Alcoa needs concessions from our members at Wenatchee in order for the plant to run profitably," Palm said. "This is a good plant. Alcoa should stop holding this community hostage."
Company officials said 20,000 other Alcoa employees must make contributions to health-care plans, which would equate to about 1 percent of base pay and benefits packages for workers at Wenatchee.
"Alcoa will not continue to provide employment at the Wenatchee plant with no hope of startup in sight," said Alan Cransberg, Alcoa's president of U.S. Primary Metals.
The Wenatchee smelter has a capacity of 182,000 metric tons per year.
Alcoa earlier this month cut production by a third at a Quebec aluminum smelter that has been beset by labor problems. About 1,800 workers represented by the Syndicat des Employees de l'Aluminerie de Becancour went on strike July 7.
Cuts in Quebec reduced production by 135,000 tons annually.
Alcoa has a total smelting capacity of about 4 million metric tons per year worldwide.