Albemarle’s Kemerton woes continue as company sack half of its eight apprentices

An electrical workers union has slammed Albemarle for letting go half of its apprentices at its Kemerton site, but the mining giant says a production downturn meant the move was unavoidable.

Four of Albemarle’s eight Kemerton-based apprentices will be let go as a result of wound-back production after a tumultuous year for the American lithium mining giant.

These includes two electrical and two mechanical apprentices. It was announced they had been hired almost 14 months ago.

Electrical Trades Union WA State secretary Adam Woodage said the move was a bad look after a $150 million lithium industry lifeline from the State Government that week.

“What you can’t get with an electrical apprenticeship is a half completed one, and half a tradesman,” he said.

“You have to complete the whole apprenticeship. You can’t just do half of it and go pretend to be a sparky.

“With Albemarle doing this, it’s an absolute blight on the $150m that I’m sure they’re getting their sticky fingers into the honey pot with.”

Albemarle announced the apprentices — including five women — had been hired in October 2023 as part of a four-year apprenticeship program for existing employees.

The announcement described the move as a “significant step in promoting diversity and equality”m and pointed towards expanding the program beyond Albemarle’s existing workforce in 2024.

An Albemarle spokesperson said the current climate at the site made the job cuts unavoidable.

“In August we announced the downsizing of operations in response to market conditions, and the need to move from two processing trains to one, in response to the lower for longer outlook for lithium, regrettably resulting in the loss of jobs,” she said.

“We delayed making a decision on our eight apprentices at that time while we assessed future opportunities for them. That process is now complete, and our downsized operations mean that, unfortunately, there isn’t enough work available for all of our apprentices.

“We will maintain four apprentices going forward.

“We are working closely with local industry and Apprenticeship Community WA to find other opportunities for the four affected apprentices. They will also receive above-industry-standard redundancies and other benefits.”

The move caps off a troubled year for the global lithium producer, which has cut production and slashed hundreds of jobs as a result

In August, Albemarle announced it would stop construction on train three, halt train twom and prioritise train one because of a downturn in the global lithium market.

About 300 jobs were cut as a result.

In October, it was announced the company was looking to sell its yet-to-be-completed workers’ accommodation village.