Neville Paul and Angelo Laurence, Gleaner Writers
WORK AT the Alpart bauxite plant in Nain, St. Elizabeth, came to a halt yesterday when 1,000 production workers staged a four-hour work stoppage to protest the slow pace of salary negotiations.
The workers, who are represented by the Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (UTASP) and the National Workers Union (NWU), blocked the main entrance to the plant to show their disgust.
UTASP General Secretary, St. Patrice Ennis, and NWU Vice-President Norman DaCosta subsequently addressed them. Both unions have accused Alpart of not coming to the table with a reasonable offer for the hourly-paid workers.
"Since the end of the contract in December last year, the company has shown no inclination of arriving at a reasonable settlement," Mr. DaCosta told The Gleaner.
MANY SACRIFICES
"The joint protest is intended to send a clear message to the owners of the plant that the workers made many sacrifices and are now determined to share in the recovery of the bauxite industry.
"The unions are seeking a settlement in line with inflation, in addition to improvements in fringe benefits, most of which were not addressed in the last negotiations."
According to Mr. Ennis, the company is offering a wage increase of 23 per cent, over a three-year period, and in no year would increases be made in double digits.
"With the increase in inflation and other costs, workers should be given a decent wage increase to cushion the effects of high cost for goods and service. The offer from the company at this time cannot be accepted," he contended.
The UTASP representative further pointed out that the salary increases offered by Alpart to its employees since 1999 amount to 26 per cent, while inflation over the same period has been in excess of 80 per cent.
Floyd Solomon, a worker at the plant for the past eight years, told The Gleaner that "since their last wage increase in January 2004, the cost of living has skyrocketed while their salary remains the same ... in 2004, alumina was being sold at $180 per tonne, and has since increased to over $480 per tonne."
This, he said, justifies the call of the workers for a pay increase as Alpart is benefiting from a huge profit margin as a result of the new world prices being paid for alumina.
When contacted Lance Neita, public relations manager at Alpart, said the company would not comment on industrial action by the workers.
"The company has a policy that it would not enter into any public debate with unions," Mr. Neita said.
