On Friday contractors at Hovensa laid off 270 employees, including heavy-equipment operators, painters, scaffold builders, millwrights and maintenance workers.
Hovensa experienced a significant net operating loss in the first quarter that ended March 31, 2009, according to Alex Moorhead, the company’s vice president of government affairs and community relations. The loss was due to the refining industry’s margins remaining weak, he said. To reduce operating costs, Hovensa temporarily reduced its contract work force, resulting in the 270 workers released Friday, Moorhead said Monday.
"Approximately 1,000 contract employees remain post-layoff," Moorhead said. "Hovensa expects an increase by the fourth quarter of the year and there will be a recall of most workers at that time."
The companies involved in the layoff were Industrial Services Unlimited, Raycon Mechanical, Sun Constructors, Triangle Construction and Maintenance, Turner Maintenance St. Croix and Wyatt Virgin Islands, Moorhead said. The majority of the employees laid off were from Turner and Triangle.
Ricky Brown, president of Our Virgin Islands Labor Union (OVILU), said he heard the layoff should last no longer than six months barring any unforeseen circumstances.
"I am encouraging all laid-off workers to be conservative and delay expenses," Brown said.
Because of a provision in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act 2009, the workers will keep their health insurance, paying $35 a month on their premiums.
Employees from the Department of Labor were at Gertrude’s Restaurant Monday to help the newly unemployed with fast-track registration and give them information on unemployment benefits. DOL representatives also provided information on other help available to the workers, such as job counseling and resume writing.
"The DOL provides the rapid-response workshop to make things easier," said Jaime Velez, director of employee insurance at DOL. "This gives a sense of satisfaction and security, knowing the Department of Labor is here to help."
Such workshops also smooth the impact of so many people coming en masse to the DOL to sign up for benefits, Velez said.
Eloise Smith, an adjudicator for the DOL out of St. Thomas, gave the group gathered in the second session of the day basic information such as how much they can collect weekly and who is eligible and for how long. They can collect unemployment for six months maximum as long as they don’t have a job offer that pays more than the weekly benefits for which they are eligible, according to Smith.
One man at the registration who held a supervisor’s position, but wished to remain anonymous, said he had worked for 20 years without a layoff.
"I just want to know how they decide who stays and who gets laid off," he said. "With the way the economy is, I was not shocked."
