Rumors that Intalco, the mothballed aluminum smelter in Ferndale, was preparing for demolition flew last week, as the parent company denied them and union representatives continued to push for a plant restart.
Last week’s scuttlebutt, sparked by employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, centered around the potential demolition of the facility. Union President Robert Martinez, Jr. called on the company to keep the doors of the facility open, and union representatives said remaining staff had begun deconstructing equipment.
The Alcoa Corporation, Intalco’s parent company, denied claims of layoffs Thursday, Feb. 2.
“Alcoa continues to maintain the same level of workforce at the site today as it has since May of 2021,” an Alcoa spokesperson said.
Last week, Alcoa said the smelter will remain “in a curtailed state,” while the company evaluates options for future use.
“Decisions regarding the future of curtailed sites are based on a variety of factors, including global economic conditions, market pricing, energy prices, capital requirements, and the prospects for long-term, sustainable competitiveness,” the spokesperson said in late January. “Alcoa seeks viable opportunities for all its curtailed or closed sites to be returned to productive and sustainable use.”
Initially curtailed in mid-2020, the facility has been operated by a skeleton crew — about a dozen union members monitoring the site, keeping the lights on, the doors locked and the equipment ready to go — in the event a restart could be negotiated.
In a Jan. 18 letter to Alcoa CEO Roy Harvey, Martinez urged Alcoa to work with the union and “all parties to pause the planned demolition of the Intalco smelter with the goal of restarting this vitally important facility.”
Harvey responded on Jan. 27, “Alcoa has not made any recent announcements about the facility — we continue to hold it as a curtailed site.”
A previous version of this story indicated about half of the remaining crew at Intalco had received pink slips, per a union representative. At this point, no layoffs have occurred, according to new information from another union rep. This story was updated on Feb. 7, 2023 at 4:55 p.m. The Cascadia Daily News regrets the error.
