By By Balford Henry, Staff ReporterKAISER ALUMINIUM Corporation (KAC), the number three aluminium producer in North America, filed for bankruptcy in the United States yesterday but indicated that its Jamaican operations would not be affected.
In answers to questions raised by The Gleaner, the local company gave an assurance last night that there was no threat of redundancies here as its local reorganisation had basically levelled off last year.
"At this point, the company does not anticipate significant headcount reductions as a direct result of the Chapter 11 filing. The filing will have little or no impact on Kaiser's day-to-day operations or the responsibilities of its employees," a release from Kaiser's Discovery Bay office said.
The release also said the Chapter 11 filing is a voluntary action taken to resolve financial problems and would not prevent the company from continuing normal business operations.
In another release, which originated out of its US offices, KAC confirmed that while the filing includes certain US subsidiaries, through which the company holds an interest in foreign operations, it did not include its interests in the Alpart refinery in St. Elizabeth or Kaiser Jamaica Bauxite Company (KJBC), nor plants in Australia, Canada, Ghana and Wales.
But, local trade unionists representing workers at both plants felt that there would be some impact from the development.
National Workers Union (NWU) vice-president Norman DaCosta said that workers had been calling his office all day expressing fears about adverse effect of the bankruptcy filing.
Mr. DaCosta said it was likely that it would affect current negotiations for a new labour contract. However, he said that the union was awaiting a meeting with recently-appointed general manager of Kaiser's local operations, Chris Cummins, tomorrow at which the whole issue would be discussed. The NWU represents about 600 of the more than 800 workers at Alpart.
University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) vice-president Lambert Brown said that, while his union did not expect a closure of local operations, there was a feeling that it would accelerate the introduction of new policies like outsourcing, which includes leasing out the company's mining operations to outside interests. The UAWU represents about 300 of more than 400 workers at KJBC.
The UAWU and KJBC are currently in the third year of a 5-year labour agreement.
KAC said yesterday that it has been facing significant near-term debt maturities, at a time of unusually weak aluminium industry business conditions, depressed prices and a broad economic slowdown further exacerbated by the events of September 11.
The company's president and chief executive officer, Jack Hockema, was quoted as saying that the decision to seek protection under Chapter 11, will provide Kaiser with the opportunity to reorganise its financial structure and implement a strategic policy to return to sustained profitability.
Minister of Mining and Energy, Anthony Hylton, told the House of Representatives yesterday that he and other government officials met Kaiser's executive vice-president, Harvey Perry, last week to discuss the company's financial position.
He said that the government had been aware of Kaiser's financial difficulties for sometime and had been monitoring the developments, "closely".
