THE Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) has won bargaining rights on behalf of the more than 400 workers engaged by Russian alumina firm United Company Rusal (UC Rusal) at its local facilities.

The results of the poll conducted Tuesday by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) at UC Rusal’s local facilities in St Catherine and St Elizabeth showed that, of 663 workers illegible to participate, 427 voted for representation by UCASE. Three workers voted “no”, six votes were rejected and 127 workers did not vote.

UCASE President Vincent Morrison said that the union commended the MLSS team, which conducted the poll, for the manner in which it was conducted, despite allegations of threats against workers who participate and claims that several workers were sent on leave Friday and their passes withdrawn.

Morrison said that he would be meeting with the workers tomorrow at the Ewarton plant in St Catherine to commence the process of preparing a claim for improved wages and working conditions, to be served on the UC Rusal’s management. This will be the first step towards negotiating a new labour agreement for the workers.

Morrison said that the workers need his union’s representation because the terms and conditions of their current employment were well below those which existed prior to UC Rusal’s take-over of the facilities.

In early September, Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips sought to allay fears about the future of the bauxite/alumina sector by assuring the House of Representatives that Jamaica was meeting its international obligations to the sector, and that UC Rusal’s plans for expanding its operations in Jamaica by 2016 were still on target.

UC Rusal owns 100 per cent of the shares in Alpart, in St Elizabeth, as well as West Indies Alumina Company’s (WINDALCO) plants at Kirkvine, Manchester, and Ewarton, St Catherine.

UC Rusal and the Jamaican Government agreed to the resumption of work at the local bauxite and alumina complex, Alumina Partners (ALPART), following the closure of the refinery, the largest in Jamaica, in 2009.

UC Rusal has committed to reopening the refinery, situated at Nain, south-east St Elizabeth, in December 2016. But since January, there has been a resumption of bauxite mining operations in the Myersville region of south-east St Elizabeth.

The Jamaican Government has agreed to the export of bauxite by Alpart, pending the reopening of the alumina plant.

In addition, the parties agreed to modernise a seaport, repair roads and construct a gas turbine cogeneration plant, with capacity of 140 MW by UC Rusal.

UC Rusal took over 100 per cent control of ALPART and spent more than $300 million, but because of falling prices for bauxite, the plant’s activity was suspended in 2009.

In addition to Alpart, UC Rusal took over Windalco’s two plants — Ewarton and Kirkvine Works — and consolidated 100 per cent ownership in December 2014.

UCASE, a former “white collar” affiliate of the National Workers Union (INWU), separated itself from the NWU in February 2014, after its president, Vincent Morrison, was stripped of his powers as NWU president by general secretary Granville Valentine, in a continuing struggle for control of the NWU, an affiliate of the ruling People’s National Party.