President of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE ) Vincent Morrison thinks that it is time for a full review of the 1998 Manley Accord.

“I think that industry stakeholders need to sit down in a big room. Just like what we did when we were putting the (Manley) Accord together, and look at the industry and make the right decisions on the way forward,” Morrison told the

Jamaica Observer on Friday.

The Manley Accord, reached by the government and bauxite/alumina companies in Jamaica, was intended to improve the industrial relations, investment and production climate in the industry through various concessions. It was named after Michael Manley, former Jamaican prime minister, who orchestrated the negotiations in 1996.

The accord took into consideration problems affecting bauxite/alumina production in Jamaica, and sought to find a way in which government and the bauxite/alumina companies could cooperate on measures to sustain the industry and create economic and social opportunities for Jamaicans.

It also envisaged the use of tax-free productivity incentives at all the companies, which would promote “worker participation, lift morale and reduce costs, increase savings, and improve all round productivity”.

But Morrison says that it is time to take a second look at it, to see how it can be improved to meet its current objectives.

“The bauxite and alumina industry in Jamaica is still a very vital industry. It can’t be a situation where it continues to operate in a vacuum,” he stated.

Morrison said that the unions had talks were held with Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell, on November 24.

“We had very comprehensive discussions on local industry as well as developments internationally…based on those discussions, we are of the view that going forward there is a future for the industry. We understand that there is more un-mined bauxite than the bauxite which has been mined in Jamaica since we started those operations in the 50s,” Morrison said.

He said that he has been looking at the current problems plaguing St Ann-based Noranda Bauxite Limited (NBL) and the threat to the industry.

Noranda has already laid off more than 100 employees after losing a major customer. But there are indications that the company will permanently reduce staff and cut production, following an arbitration award requiring that it pay the full bauxite levy as of January 1, 2015.

Morrison’s union easily won bargaining rights polls at UC Rusal’s bauxite/alumina installations in Jamaica — Ewarton Works and Port Esquivel, St Catherine; Kirkvine Works, Manchester; and the Schwallenburgh Mines, Faith’s Pen, St Ann — in November and he is concerned about the sustainability of the industry.

He believes that increased consultations and dialogue, based on the foundation of the Manley Accord, is what is needed in order not to subvert recovery in the industry.

He said that the objective must be to get Jamaica back amongst the world’s leading exporters of bauxite and alumina. However, he says that despite significantly reduced energy costs, a shrunken dollar and labour costs reduced by more than 40 per cent in the industry since 2010, Jamaica’s current situation was not good enough.

In the latest issue, Paulwell last week celebrated the government’s victory before UK-based arbitrators, who concluded that NBL’s contention that the bauxite levy charged on its operations should be reduced, based on previous agreements, could not stand.

Explaining the issue while closing the budget debate in March, Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips noted that the interim agreement was reached between the government and Noranda in 2009, in the context of the global economic crisis, to cope with the crisis and support the efforts at raising the efficiency of the company.

“The clear understanding was that this arrangement would cover the period 2008/2009 to December 31, 2014 and that Noranda would revert to the standard regime on January 1, 2015,” Dr Phillips.

He pointed out that Noranda had been insisting on a five-year extension of the concession.

“The Government of Jamaica has honoured the agreement with Noranda, which involved substantial revenue foregone and, in the circumstances facing the country, we are not able to grant an extension,” he added.

He said that the government’s position is that it must collect taxes due from all taxpayers, “be they small, medium or large”.

Noranda Aluminum Holding, NBL’s parent company, reported losses in the third quarter of 2015, with prices at their lowest levels since the global recession of 2008-2009.

The company said that, in response to this problem, it has been aggressively pursuing strategies to reduce operating costs at all its locations.