Rockefeller Asks Century Aluminum to Reconsider

Rockefeller sent a letter to the president of Century Aluminum, asking him to reconsider Century's plan to eliminate early retiree health insurance coverage for its workers.

CHARLESTON -- U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has sent a letter to Century Aluminum President and CEO Logan Kruger, asking for the company to reconsider its plan to eliminate health insurance coverage for employees younger than age 65 who have retired from the Ravenswood facility.

"These workers, some of whom have spent decades at the Ravenswood facility and sacrificed better wages during their working lives for the promise of retiree coverage, deserve better than to have this promise broken," Rockefeller said in the letter. "Standing by your workers during this time in their lives is simply the right thing to do."

Rockefeller's letter says the halt to insurance coverage "adds further insult to the injury" of the plant dropping coverage for nearly 500 retirees older than age 65. Rockefeller says he is "especially concerned" about Century Aluminum's decision because the company had been accepted into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program created by the health reform law. The program provides $5 billion in financial assistance to employers and unions to help them maintain insurance coverage for retirees ages 55 and older who aren't yet eligible for Medicare.

Rockefeller requested a response to his letter by Dec. 13, 2010.