Three years ago, the community of Ravenswood in Jackson County was devastated by the closing of the giant Century Aluminum plant. Over 650 workers lost their jobs and plant retirees would eventually lose their health care benefits.
The retirees were left particularly embittered. They believed the contract they had with the company entitled them to health benefits for the rest of their lives. A court decision interpreted the workers’ contract with the company differently, but the bitterness remained.
The retirees rallied and protested. They came to the state capitol to press their case. They were particularly irked by the fact that, while the plant had closed, Century was still in business.
To the casual observer, it felt like a lost cause.
Then came whispers not long ago about the possibility of Ravenswood reopening.
The economy was starting to come back and aluminum prices had risen from where they were in 2009 when Century decided to close the plant.
Century’s new president and CEO Michael Bless fueled the optimism recently when he said that reopening the smelter this year was a top priority. But there are, of course, hurdles.
One is a new contract with the steel workers. Another is passage of a bill by the state legislature that will give Century a tax credit it can use to lessen its expenses when/if aluminum prices drop again.
And then there was the boiling issue with the retirees.
The two sides were talking and apparently making progress, but as recently as yesterday morning there remained disagreement. Century had promised to put what the company called "a substantial" amount of money into the retirees health care annually, but it apparently was not as much as the retirees expected.
Then last night, they finally reached an agreement. Yes, the retirees still have to vote on the deal, but it’s hard to imagine that Karen Gorrell, who is the hard-nosed leader of the retirees, would even present the agreement if she didn’t think it had a good chance of passing.
Everyone is optimistic, but Bless said they’re not ready to fire up the smelter yet.
"While encouraged by our progress and the cooperation and support we have received from all parties, we recognize that this is a first step and a great deal of work lies ahead," Bless said in a prepared statement. "As we have previously stated, a plant restart is dependent on an enabling energy contract, a competitive labor agreement and a reasonable expectation that aluminum prices are sufficient to provide for profitable operations."
Still, there’s hope and opportunity, something that’s been hard to come by in Ravenswood for the last several years.