Articles in The Bellingham Herald and New York Times yesterday, November 24th, describe the scenario in which an Alcoa plant in Massena West, New York, similar to the Alcoa Intalco Works plant here in Ferndale, had been recently saved from being shut down as a result of subsidies to be given Alcoa by the State of New York. According to a Reuters article,
Alcoa Inc will receive almost $70 million in aid over 3-1/2 years from New York state to keep the Massena West, New York, aluminum smelter open, under a deal announced on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the Intalco plant workers have not heard about anything similar being discussed with Washington State officials as they face layoffs in the upcoming months due plans to shut their smelting plant.
According the article posted by The Bellingham Herald,
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Click for more informationWe are not actively seeking funding from the state (of Washington) or other sources,” said Josh Wilund, a spokesman for Alcoa, when asked about the Wenatchee and Ferndale plants.
On their Facebook page, International Machinists Local 2379 posted the Bellingham Herald article with the caption,
If you had any doubt about what kind of political support we have in Olympia, this should clarify a few things for you.
On a recently created Facebook page, NW Intalco Families, administered by family members of employees facing layoffs, the New York rescue effort generated a call to action to contact Washington State politicians.
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Click for more informationThis has been brought to our attention and employees have begun to contact and write to our governor and senators to try to get them to fight for us.
Workers and others interested in contacting Washington State officials can use the following links: