Century Aluminum, retirees reach common ground

Century Aluminum and its retirees forged an "agreement in principle" that restores some retiree health care benefits and removes a key hurdle to restarting the Ravenswood plant.

Retirees were set to announce the news at a 6:30 p.m. press event at the entrance to Century's Ravenswood plant Wednesday.

Century closed the plant during the height of the economic downturn in 2009, leaving more than 650 people jobless.

Citing the need to control costs should the plant be reactivated, Century ended health care coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees in 2010. Early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65 lost their coverage in 2011.

Retirees have been fighting to get it back ever since.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and other state and congressional leaders have been adamant in recent months that any talks on restarting the shuttered smelter include discussions of restoring those benefits.

Last week, Century CEO Michael Bless announced the company had set the restart of the Ravenswood plant as a top priority for 2012. Bless also said the company was working with retirees on a deal to restore some benefits.

Sources familiar with the talks confirmed to the Daily Mail that retirees were not comfortable with an offer from the company during negotiations Sunday.

That offer included a partial reinstatement of about $4 million per year in benefits. To contrast, Century said the total elimination of all benefits saved the company about $18 million last quarter.

Sources also said retirees were seeking a 10-year guarantee of any restored benefits. The company's offer, however, detailed that benefits would only be guaranteed so long as Century was in business.

The proposed agreement between the retirees and the plant includes some restoration of benefits, though not all. Immediate details were not available prior to the retiree event in Ravenswood.

A formal agreement will still need to be ratified and signed by retiree, union and company officials. Retirees will also need to withdraw some pending legislation in federal court, where they had been suing for a reinstatement of benefits.

But the agreement represents the removal of the key stumbling block to restarting the plant this year.

While the deal is not yet final, Tomblin welcomed news that common ground had been reached.

"I'm thrilled to hear that the last major issue between the retirees and Century Aluminum have been resolved and that Century is a step closer to making a deal with the retirees and restarting the plant, creating hundreds of jobs in Jackson County," Tomblin said late Wednesday.

Once company officials confirm the deal has been reached, the Tomblin administration will begin working with legislative leaders to push through a bill providing greater flexibility in Century's power rates.

The rising cost of electricity was a key factor in Century's decision to shut down the plant. The company has said a more flexible power contract with Appalachian Power would help it control costs in the future.

Though there are only 10 days left in the legislative session, Tomblin was confident a bill could be passed in that time.

"We fully believe we can work with the Legislature to get that passed in the near future, assuming they have reached a deal with retirees," he said.