St. Paul, MN—State Representative Roger Skraba, R-Ely, issued the following statement today regarding news that Cleveland-Cliffs has started the process of calling back workers with the goal of reopening the Babbitt and Silver Bay facilities in early April. Both facilities have been idle since last May when around 450 workers were laid off as operations ceased.
“I am extremely happy to hear that Cleveland-Cliffs has started the process of contacting workers to begin reopening their facilities in Babbitt and Silver Bay,” said Skraba. “This has been an issue that we have been working hard on during the first month and a half of the legislative session. It was great to see the strong bipartisan support for our bill to extend unemployment benefits for those that were laid off when these facilities closed last year. While the extension of these benefits was helpful and appreciated, time and time again I heard from miners in our community that they simply wanted their jobs back. Today’s news begins that process and I look forward to operations starting up again in early April.”
Earlier this year, the House and Senate approved legislation that provided a $10 million extension of unemployment benefits for the roughly 450 miners that were laid off last May. Rep. Skraba was a co-author, and the bill was later signed by Gov. Walz.
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