THE Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) and Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) took another step towards settlement of the current wage claims for employees of aluminum conglomerate UC Rusal, at a meeting of the parties on Thursday.

Deputy chairman of IDT Danny Roberts was not at the meeting but he confirmed that it was held to complete discussions arising from the previous contract and the last wage agreement, opening the way to arbitration of a new contract by IDT.

“The wage issue has been before the IDT several weeks now, but it is confined to disputes primarily over wage improvements and unlawful dismissals,” Roberts explained.

President of UCASE Vincent Morrison, who led the union’s team at the sitting, told the
Jamaica Observer that the union intends to continue with the arbitration process, covering the period November 2021 to November 2023. This move has already led to certain agreements with the parties and leaves enough space open to the negotiatorsfor the incoming two-year period November 2023-November 2025.

“For us the discussions on the previous contract has ended, and we met at the IDT today to finalise increases for the workers. And we will continue the negotiations until we reach an agreement for a new contract which would have started in November 2023 and continue to the present,” Morrison said.

An 18-point salary claim from UCASE was stalled for several months by the company, which has been insisting on a 12 per cent, compounded, two-year pay increase, retroactive to November 20, 2021 and scheduled to expire on November 2, 2023. UCASE noted that the company’s offer of a six per cent increase, for 2021/2022, and another for 2022/2023, had been rejected by the union and has left the workers awaiting an increase for the past three years.

However, UCASE had said that IDT cannot start the new arbitration until the award which led to the closure of the 2021/2023 period was finalised and the way prepared for commencing talks on the 2023/2025 arrangement. So, the new one would have started November 3, 2023 to the present or until the union gets an award handed down by IDT, because it is not aware of what will be awarded.

“We had to explain to the IDT that there was no threat of industrial action, there was no contemplation of threats, and we have not given any such instruction to our members,” Morrison said.

“We are at the tribunal and we have completed the deliberations, and we are now awaiting the award from the tribunal,” he said.

For the most recent fiscal year the Jamaican Government expects the value of mining earnings from bauxite and alumina to improve to US$507 million ($77 billion), seven per cent higher than fiscal year 2020-2021, with the August 2022 reopening of the Jamalco plant. However UC Rusal, a Russian alumina conglomerate which owns 52 per cent of local alumina production, was once again in the crossfire of US and European sanctions linked to the Russia-Ukraine war in 2021.

Jamaica’s mining and quarrying industry contracted by 62.5 per cent in 2022 due mainly to the closure of the Jamaica Alumina Company plant in August 2021 because of a fire.