Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Prime Minister-designate Portia Simpson Miller and Michael Collins Managing Director of West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco), during a break from negotiations between the bauxite company and the National Workers Union at Jamaica House on Tuesday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
ONE OF the bauxite industry's longest-running labour disputes was brought to an end yesterday with Prime Minister-designate Portia Simpson Miller's intervention and a more than 24-hour meeting with representatives of West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco) and the union representing its workers.
The often tense negotiations over workers' compensation at the bauxite company had been ongoing for 21 months and had threatened to break down in recent weeks.
After the Prime Minister-designate joined in negotiations on Saturday and Sunday, Mrs. Simpson Miller, members of the Windalco management and the National Workers Union (NWU) met for final discussions that began Wednesday morning and ended late yesterday afternoon.
Mrs. Simpson Miller told The Gleaner after the announcement of the settlement that she had no regrets about missing out on some sleep.
"This was so important that I felt that I had to get this right," she said at Jamaica House. "I have to get certain things right (as Prime Minister) and if it means that I have to make a sacrifice then I will certainly do so."
Michael Collins, Windalco managing director, NWU president Clive Dobson and Vice-President Norman DaCosta all praised her intervention in the negotiations which they said would have otherwise dragged on longer.
NO DISRUPTIONS
"We are very pleased and no doubt we would not have got the agreement without her," Collins told The Gleaner last night. He also praised the workers, stressing that the negotiations had not caused any disruptions at the plant.
He said the agreed compensation package would be put to Windalco's workers early next week for ratification before the official signing on Thursday morning.
Mr. DaCosta said the dispute had threatened to spread further into the industry.
He contended, however, that the settlement still left the workers' compensation package at pre-1998 levels in United States dollar terms. He added that he would begin collecting claims for the next three-year period in the next few months.
