Alcoa aluminum plant shutdown may impact credit union members

BADIN, N.C. – A number of members at Badin Employees Credit Union stand to be impacted when one of the town’s larger employers completes its second round of layoffs by the end of the year. Alcoa announced in July that a “temporary curtailment of aluminum production” at its primary aluminum facility in Badin would occur by Aug. 16 and 300 employees would be laid off by that date. The remaining 77 employees would continue to “work through as late as the end of the year in making ingots out of the aluminum already produced,” according to a company news release. Badin Employees Credit Union Manager Rita Jo Culp told CUNA’s News Now that the layoffs and plant shutdown “will make an impact, but probably not right away,” adding, “the credit union is looking at doing something different – maybe a community charter.” Badin has 805 members and $4.2 million in assets. Culp also said the plant may reopen and employees will continue to receive paychecks until October. Meanwhile, Alcoa said the temporary shutdown which also includes plants closing in Texas and Oregon, were necessary because “escalating energy and labor costs have made many smelters less globally competitive.” Alcoa, the world’s largest producer of primary aluminum, will “continue to explore potential adjustments – both closings and restarts – as market conditions warrant.”