RAVENSWOOD - Jason Miller has six months left on the job he got 20 years ago.
Five others, two hourly employees and three supervisors, will continue to work with him at the Century Aluminum plant in Ravenswood. The plant was idled February 2009, when Century laid off more than 650 employees. Last week, Century officials announced the plant would not reopen - a move that many in the community expected, but one that still hit some of them hard.
"We knew it was coming," Miller said. "We just didn't know when. The company didn't even tell us. We found out about it on the news and over the social media. Nobody from the company even came to talk to us."
Miller, an electrician, makes sure no power line problems damage the large plant, opened by Kaiser Aluminum in 1957. He'll do that for the next several months, and that'll be it.
He's also financial secretary and a former local president for the United Steelworkers of America Local 5668 in Ravenswood.
"MacDonald's and Wal-Mart are not going to carry everybody. We have to get manufacturing jobs back," Miller said. "The steel industry has done left. And right around the corner, it looks like aluminum will be gone."
Constellium Rolled Products, which still operates its major aluminum plant directly adjacent to Century's closed facility, hired 13 new employees last week to make aluminum plate, which can be used in military planes.
Constellium will be hiring more workers in the near future to make aluminum plate, Miller said. He said Constellium gets aluminum from Century's plant in Hawesville, Kentucky.
"The top people in these companies continue to make all this money, while the little guy suffers - the people who actually make that money for them," Miller said.
Bob Grimmett, who owns Robert Mason - a stationery store that sells paper and office supplies in Ravenswood - said on Thursday, "We had hopes. We're being robbed of our hopes.
"There is no free market. China is dumping metals into our market. What do we do?"
Karen Gorrell, whose husband retired from Century, has been a local leader fighting to keep health-care benefits promised to retired workers under the company's labor contracts with the United Steelworkers.
"We used to have 33 aluminum smelters in the United States. Now we have seven," Gorrell said. "China is about to take over the aluminum industry, just like they took over the steel industry. China could be making all the aluminum we use in our trucks, cars and airplanes."
"The economy has responded with only part-time jobs. And with poverty, there comes a lot of bad stuff. There is no upward mobility. A giant whirlpool is pulling things down," Grimmett said.
Century, in a news release on Monday, said, "The decision to permanently close the Ravenswood plant is based on the inability to secure a competitive power contract for the smelter, compounded by challenging aluminum market conditions largely driven by increased exports of aluminum from China."
In 2012, the state Legislature approved an annual tax credit of up to $20 million to Appalachian Power, so the company could give Century Aluminum lower electricity rates. The credits would have gone directly to coal companies, so they could sell their coal for less.
But the West Virginia Public Service Commission turned down a proposal from Century to require Appalachian Power to charge them lower rates than it bills other business customers.
In its ruling, the PSC pointed out the financial burden for those lower rates, up to $45 million a year, would revert to residential power customers.
Century CEO Michael Bless, in a statement issued on Monday, said, "We have worked diligently with local, state and federal officials, along with the power company, to reopen the smelter but we have been unable to secure a long-term, competitive power contract.
"We deeply regret the impact of this action on our employees and on the local community, and share in the profound disappointment. We will now turn our attention to the efficient disposition of the facility; we are committed to working with state leadership and the other relevant constituencies in this endeavor."
Bless said dramatic changes in aluminum prices have been a major problem. Recent prices have ranged from $3,000 a metric ton down to $1,600 a metric ton, he said.
Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said, "The loss of Century Aluminum in Ravenswood is not only a loss to that community, but to all of West Virginia."
Ted Boettner, executive director of the Center on Budget & Policy, an independent think tank in Charleston, said, "Manufacturing is a vital piece of our state's economy, paying above-average wages with good benefits. Any time these jobs are eliminated, it not only hurts the families involved but also the tax base of the community and its quality of life.
"West Virginia needs to do a lot more in supporting start-up companies and high-tech and innovation strategies that build the jobs of the future. Nationally, we need fair trade. This means ending currency manipulation in China and making our dollar more competitive with our countries."
Roberts said on Thursday, "We do know that the world of aluminum manufacturing is very competitive. A long-time manufacturing leader very knowledgeable about this industry told me the Century Aluminum factory is a relatively small one. The economics of aluminum favor 'bigger is better' is what he told me today.
"But more than anything, we want to make sure we are listening as to whether there is any opportunity to encourage them to stay in West Virginia. If they cannot, we hope to find the next bet fit for that particular facility."
Tomblin said he "asked Century Aluminum officials to reconsider their decision to permanently close the company's Ravenswood facility.
"We have worked diligently with the company as well as local, state and federal officials to find a solution that works for all parties, and we remain willing to offer assistance moving forward."
Century still operates aluminum smelters in Hawesville, Kentucky.; Sebree, Kentucky.; Mt. Holly, South Carolina.; and Grundartangi, Iceland.
With its headquarters now in Chicago, Century also operates plants that make anodes and cathodes, used in electrical devices, in Vlissingen, Netherlands and in the Guangxi Zhuang region of southern China.
Commenting on Century's announcement, Roberts said,
"This is the kind of message no community wants to get. It is very, very difficult to work around a facility of that size that decides it can't operate in your state," Roberts said.
But maybe there is still some hope.
Grimmett hopes something good will happen. "We need to think outside the box. Ravenswood's future is very much tied to the Ohio River."
Roberts said, "One of the things we know is that because of its location on the Ohio River, the plant has an enormous source of fresh water and is on a direct line of various electricity routes.
"We want to do everything we can to talk about what a marvelous site it sits on - and how there will be an opportunity for someone else if the Century leaves it behind.
"I am very complimentary of Gov. Tomblin for making another run at it. Stranger things have happened," Roberts said.
Grimmett isn't buying it. "We had hopes that one day the Century plant would reopen, so we could help our community. There are a lot of people who want to work," he said. "Economics is very cruel."
Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjnyden@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.