Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Ltd (NJBL) yesterday announced full resumption of its mining operations and stated that it was moving to cut staff by five per cent this month.

The company, which is 51 per cent owned by the Jamaican Government and 49 per cent by Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation based in Franklin, Tennessee, United States, said the resumption follows a “temporary suspension” of its mining activities on December 21 last year.

The resumption of operations has seen the return of the approximately 100 employees who had been laid off consequent to the two weeks break in mining over the holiday season.

“During the period of lay-off the company continued to carry out its drying and shipping operations from the plant in Discovery Bay,” Noranda said in a news release yesterday.

It also said that it is moving, in consultation with the unions representing the workers, “with a three to five per cent reduction in a job positions exercise” this month.

“This is in response to the major decline in the global price of aluminium and demand facing the industry,” Noranda said.

Yesterday, Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) President Senator Kavan Gayle confirmed that the unions met with the management of Noranda Jamaica last week and were informed of plans to reduce staff positions this month.

However, Senator Gayle said that the unions have raised some issues seeking clarification before any final decision is reached on their proposals.

He said that among those issues were the questions of how the staff reduction would impact the company’s operations in Jamaica, and how Noranda will be able to deal with the payment of the bauxite levy on the basis of the award made by an arbitration tribunal in London last month.

“There has to be some meeting of the minds on the bauxite levy issue going forward, and therefore there has to be some engagement of the parties on this issue,” Gayle said.

“The unions are also seeking more information on the company’s strategic plans for 2016,” he said, adding that the unions and Noranda’s management are to meet again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the company said that senior Noranda representatives will be in Jamaica this week to resume bauxite levy discussions with the Government.

Late last month news emerged that a team in the United Kingdom, who had been agreed on by the Government and the company to arbitrate the issue of whether Noranda should pay the full bauxite levy, which was restored by the Government last year, had decided in favour of the Government.

The arbitrators, after examining the establishment agreement between the Government and Noranda, said that the company’s argument in favour of a reduction of the levy charged on its operations could not stand.

The panel felt that the contract terms for 2015 and beyond were not fixed, but open to negotiation.

At the time, Mining and Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell welcomed the decision, saying that while the Government did not want to pressure the companies, given the difficulties of the industry, “they need to realise that the Jamaican people need something more”.

In response, Senator Gayle accused the Government of being “penny wise and pound foolish”.

Gayle had argued that instead of pushing for Noranda to pay the full levy starting last year, which may amount to a few million US dollars, the Government should consider the long-term effects of not only loss of other revenue streams, but also the effect on the lives of over 600 workers employed to the company, their families and communities which would be indirectly affected.

“In my mind it doesn’t make a lot of sense, because if the company closes down, the Government will lose access to other revenues, including income and company tax. I hope the minister’s excitement won’t turn out to be a disappointment for the workers,” Gayle said.

Noranda Aluminum Holding, Corporation, NJBL’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.

Yesterday, Noranda Jamaica pointed out in its release that General Manager Antoine Liddell has said that preserving jobs is a major consideration, but that the current situation may require further adjustments to the structure of the company, depending on the ongoing state of the industry.

Unionised employees of Noranda are also represented by the University and Allied Workers Union, and the Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel.