MINISTER of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell is scheduled to meet with the local trade unions representing employees of the cash-strapped, St Ann-based Noranda Bauxite Limited (NBL) at his office in Kingston this morning.

This follows Wednesday’s announcement by NBL that it had made 13 positions redundant at its Discovery Bay plant, with signs that there may be more redundancies to follow.

President of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) Senator Kavan Gayle told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that a meeting with the management of Noranda on Wednesday confirmed that the company is having a “serious liquidity problem”.

“It is extremely delicate, but it has to be managed,” Senator Gayle insisted.

He said that a closure of the plant would not only affect the workers and the surrounding communities, but Noranda’s reduced production would result in limited tax and bauxite levy revenues. He stated that the Government has a duty to extend some compassion to Noranda in light of the liquidity problem.

“Otherwise, it would be like holding up a bruk pocket man, because the company has no money,” Senator Gayle commented.

Paulwell will be meeting with the three unions representing workers at the Discovery Bay plant — the BITU, the University and Allied Workers Union, and the Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel — at 8:30 am at the New Kingston-based PCJ building, which houses his ministry.

On Wednesday, John A Parker, Noranda’s vice-president of communication and investor relations, issued a press release on behalf of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation (Noranda) — the US-based parent company of NBL — listing decisions taken to reduce costs in its integrated aluminum business that includes bauxite mining operations in Jamaica, an alumina refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, and its primary smelter in New Madrid, Missouri.

The release listed steps to reduce costs and address business challenges in its “upstream business”, focusing on a 25 per cent reduction of its upstream (mining) workforce, and potential curtailment of operations at its aluminum smelter and refinery in Louisiana.

Noranda announced a workforce reduction involving approximately 190 employees, approximately 90 per cent of whom are involved in its integrated upstream business. Approximately 75 per cent of these reductions relate to staffing adjustments at the New Madrid smelter, which suffered an electrical circuit failure that led to two of the smelter’s three pot lines being idled since January 7.

Noranda Aluminum, Inc — its wholly-owned subsidiary — has notified employees of the New Madrid smelter that, in addition to the workforce reductions initiated Wednesday, approximately 350 employees will be terminated or laid off by February 4 due to the incident.

Smelter employees were also notified that the site’s remaining operations will be curtailed on or before March 12, unless the company is able to secure a substantially more sustainable power rate for the smelter and materially improve the company’s overall liquidity.

Noranda Alumina LLC, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, notified employees of its alumina refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, that it expects to curtail the refinery’s operations on or before March 12, 2016 unless it is able to negotiate meaningful and substantial fiscal regime relief with the Government of Jamaica (including tax and production levy relief); achieve meaningful and substantial cost reductions at the alumina refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana and the bauxite mining operation in St Ann, Jamaica (including, but not limited to, cost savings resulting from workforce reductions); and/or secure suitable replacement volume for alumina currently provided to the New Madrid smelter.

Noranda said, however, that its flat-rolled products business sources metal from a portfolio of suppliers, and believes it has access to sufficient sources of aluminum to meet customer commitments for flat-rolled products. Accordingly, it expects that the curtailment of aluminum smelting operations will not adversely impact the operations of its flat-rolled products business.