ASARCO Plant Shutting Down

Amarillo’s ASARCO copper refinery is shutting down.

ASARCO has given an official notice of closure for the Amarillo plant

The shutdown of the copper plant will leave around 50 employees out of work.

The past several years have seen a turbulent relationship between the union and ASARCO, with workers striking for around 10 months before finally returning to work in the early fall of 2020.

The union chapter president said the company claimed more dates would be set for negotiation but instead, the company notified the union of the shutdown last week.

The plant started refining copper in Amarillo in 1975, after the closure of a previously operating zinc plant owned by the same company.