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Edited on Mon Nov-03-03 10:51 PM by God_bush_n_cheney
Saturday November 8th I will Be speaking in Longview Wa. at the Alcoa Aluminum Plant. Come on out and Join your Union Brothers and Sisters in protest! The powers that be have decided the plant should be dismantled. Help us stop the loss of Family Wage Jobs! Allow the employees to buy the plant.
Andy Stephenson
Longview, WA – The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Longview Community will kicked-off a non-stop vigil on November 1, 2003 at the Aluminum Smelter in Longview, WA, to prevent the Plant’s liquidation. Join with the workers and citizens of Longview at a Rally on Saturday, November 8, 2003. We need to send a clear message that we will not abandon the workers at Longview Aluminum nor the jobs supported in this area by the production of aluminum at this Smelter.
The Longview smelter fell on hard times when Alcoa sold the facility to Michigan Avenue Partners/Michael Lynch at the height of the 2001 western energy crisis. Lynch immediately closed the smelter and sold its energy back to the Bonneville Power Administration for $226 million dollars. The smelter has been idled ever since. Despite the huge sum of money paid for the smelter’s energy, the company, with Lynch at the helm, failed to deliver on its commitments to its workers and the community, then filed for bankruptcy. Lynch and his partners ultimately lost control of the smelter to bankruptcy trustee, William Brandt, last summer.
Wes Wheeler, Local 305 President of the Longview Federated Aluminum Council and 30-year smelter employee said, “We will not turn away so that our Plant can be carved up into scrap. Important options that would preserve the smelter as a viable U.S. manufacturing asset have not been exhausted. This is a complex, capital intensive, cyclical business. Any plans for its liquidation would be premature.” Wheeler continued, “We are here for the duration, and by that I mean we’re here until we get our Plant back - in one piece. We aren’t going to find the solution to this country’s manufacturing exodus with a cutting torch or in a slow boat to China. We have to stop the destruction of our manufacturing base, and this insane race to drive workers to the bottom of the social and economic ladder.”
All options to preserve the smelter as a viable NW manufacturing asset must be exhausted before liquidation – the workers, their families, and the community deserve nothing less. The vigil will stand until it’s understood that this is a viable smelter, and the jobs and the tax base are returned to the community. Your support is needed at the Rally.
Driving directions to Longview Smelter: Take Exit 36 off of I-5, heading West to 3rd Avenue (Industrial Area Exit). Take a left at the light, and then turn right at the next light to Industrial Way. Continue on Industrial Way approximately 4 miles. Plant is located on the on the left side of the street.
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