About a thousand WA workers will lose their jobs after US mining giant, Alcoa, announced it is shutting down its Kwinana alumina refinery, in Perth's south. The company says it has become too costly to run and will be shut-down in phases over the next two-years.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00 After much speculation, Elkoa's 800-strong Kwinana workforce were told in a morning briefing
00:07 all but 50 of them would need to look for a new job. About 250 contractors also set
00:14 to be impacted.
00:15 Everyone's a bit grim I suppose. No one really knows what's going to happen. That's the uncertainty
00:20 is probably the worst part.
00:21 Yeah, it's a bit hard to know how you feel I guess.
00:24 This is a really difficult decision and it impacts our workers, it impacts their families,
00:29 it impacts the communities in which we operate.
00:31 Normal operations will continue for three months, during which Elkoa has promised to
00:36 help affected workers find jobs within the organisation or elsewhere. After July, production
00:41 ceases with the workforce reduced to 250. By July next year, that'll drop to just 50.
00:48 It's an ageing facility. It's probably really sub-scale. It has cost challenges.
00:55 We didn't think it was going to be this quick and this certain, they're that certain of
00:59 which way they're going to go. No, it was a bit of a surprise to everybody.
01:03 But the Kwinana refinery had recorded a net loss of approximately $130 million in 2023.
01:10 The state government says in the current job market, almost all Elkoa workers at the Kwinana
01:17 refinery should have skills that fit easily into other employment.
01:21 A silver lining in what the Premier says is an otherwise dark day for his Kwinana electorate.
01:27 Mr Cook says while he understands Elkoa's decision, he's disappointed.
01:32 This is going to be a kick in the guts for the Kwinana and Rockingham communities. We'll
01:36 continue to make sure that we stand by them.
01:40 A skills centre in Rockingham is preparing to help affected workers and the government
01:45 is in talks with the union and Elkoa about establishing a jobs and skills kiosk at the
01:50 refinery itself. Elkoa says it's committed long term to its
01:54 other operations in WA, with major refineries in Pinjarra and Wagerup.
01:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]