Members of the public and private sector are scrambling in the wake of news that St. Croix Alumina will halt operations at the end of next January.
Approximately 400 workers will be laid off, some as soon as next week, because of a down turn in the world alumina market. The layoffs, tied to the overall economic problems facing the territory, have Gov. Charles Turnbull and the private sector looking for ways to soften the blow.
Turnbull said the closing is a "serious blow" to the economic recovery of the territory. In a Government House release Friday, Turnbull said he has directed the Department of Labor to meet with representatives of the Hovensa oil refinery to see if workers laid off from the alumina plant can be hired to work on Hovensa’s $600 million coker project.
Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II said he has already spoken with Hovensa Vice President Alex Moorhead about available positions at the refinery. James said that in a conversation with Moorhead he was told that Hovensa is short on personnel and will be able to hire some of the laid-off workers qualified in welding, pipe fitting, crane operations and surveying.
James said Moorhead also suggested that the government meet with Hovensa subcontractors Jacobs-ICM and Bechtel International to get St. Croix Alumina’s workers in positions at Hovensa.
Meanwhile, Frederick Joseph, sub-district director of the United Steelworkers Union, which represents the alumina workers, said he has also had talks with Hovensa subcontractors.
Construction on the coker began in June and is expected to be completed in 2002. Manpower needs will increase over a 10-month period and peak at about 2,000 workers, Hovensa officials have said.
Joseph said that with only two large companies, now only one with the closure of St. Croix Alumina, St. Croix’s economy is still to vulnerable.
"If Hovensa was not there . . . could you imagine the position we’d be in right now?" he asked.
