Alcoa Inc announced that it has reached an agreement with union officials to offer eligible employees a voluntary severance package as a way to limit the impact of the 450 lay offs the aluminum company announced weeks ago.

Ms Christy Newman spokeswoman at Alcoa said that more than 250 severance package offers are in the mail to employees who are members of the United Steel Workers Local 309, as part of an agreement reached last week with leaders of that union. She added that "Some of the details are still being hashed out."

Alcoa announced the lay offs on January 6th 2008 when it was cutting 13,500 jobs worldwide, including 450 in Blount County and shutting down its smelting operation in the face of falling aluminum prices.

Ms Newman said that one of two Blount County smelting lines has been idled and the other will remain in operation through March to give time to arrange for new metal sources for Alcoa’s Rigid Packaging Division. She added that the idled smelting pots will be maintained in such condition that they can be quickly restarted when market conditions improve and workers called back.

Meanwhile, she emphasized in an e mail newsletter that even after the workforce reductions, Alcoa will still have 1,100 employees in Blount County and will have a USD 3 billion per year impact on the area economy.