After passing the Minnesota House by a vote of 127-7 on Monday, a bill to extend unemployment benefits for more than 400 laid-off mineworkers on the Iron Range is expected to be signed by DFL Gov. Tim Walz.
The law extends benefits for an additional 26 weeks to workers laid off by Northshore Mining, which runs an open pit taconite mine in Babbitt and a processing plant in Silver Bay on Lake Superior’s North Shore.
Minnesota Unemployment Benefits
Rep. Dave Lislegard, DFL-Aurora, who sponsored the bill, stated that it is a personal one for him.
“This industry goes up and down, and when it’s a time of down, that’s when the rest of us need to be there,” Walz stated as he signed the law, surrounded by regional legislators and local government representatives. It is the governor’s second law signed this legislative session.
The $10 million program will assist in covering unemployment compensation for around 450 miners left off from Cleveland-Cliffs Northshore Mining operations due to a royalty fee dispute with Mesabi Trust. The New York-based trust rents the mine and earns royalties on a portion of the proceeds.
Northshore Mining has been inactive since May 1, and about 410 of the 580 employees have been put off.
The primary reason is a royalty dispute between its owner, Cleveland-Cliffs, and a trust that controls the mineral rights for a mine pit near Babbitt that provides iron ore to Northshore’s Silver Bay processing plant.
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Who Is Eligible?
The Department of Employment and Economic Development will immediately begin informing impacted workers about the benefits. Some employees will receive a lump sum payment to make up the difference in their benefits.
It’s not the first time Minnesota lawmakers have stepped in to help out unemployed miners. Rep. Dave Lislegard, DFL-Aurora, displayed a newspaper item from 2001, when he was let off from his mining job.
“That money benefited my family,” said Lislegard, the bill’s House sponsor. “Everyone in the community will benefit from this money.”
Lawmakers said they expect the mine will reopen in April, but they are prepared to revisit the issue to consider extra benefits if the disagreement between Cleveland-Cliffs and the trust lasts longer.
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