Minnesota lawmakers could extend unemployment benefits for hundreds of steelworkers laid off from facilities in the state’s northeast mining region.
A group of union officials and Iron Range lawmakers told a Minnesota House committee Wednesday that the region’s future depends on the additional unemployment insurance.
“We are losing members by the day,” said Al King, a union president on the Iron Range, “and if we do not get this extension and provide hope to our members, they will not be able to stay.”
More than 600 workers at Hibbing Taconite Co. in Hibbing and the Minorca Mine in Virginia will be laid off, at least temporarily, the facilities’ owner, Cleveland-Cliffs, announced last month. The Ohio-based company, the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Supporters of the bill say inflation and high interest rates have slowed car sales and, in turn, lowered demand for steel pellets produced at the Hibbing and Virginia facilities. At the same time, President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles. The car industry is likely to face continued disruption from those tariffs.
King testified in support of legislation that would extend unemployment payments for laid-off workers by an additional 26 weeks and modify environmental laws governing mining. He said the company’s efforts to winterize the Hibbing and Virginia facilities indicate workers could be sidelined for an extended period of time.
“When you have a mining job and your life is supported by that,” King said, “you can’t just wait around and hope that when you hear the words ‘temporary indefinite’ from the company, that’s just going to be a short-term layoff.”
One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Spencer Igo, R-Wabana Township, said the legislation gives Iron Range communities a future.
