The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) has intervened in the dispute between the management of St Catherine bauxite/alumina company UC Rusal and the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE).

The issue surrounds a breakdown of negotiations at the local level between both parties after the company offered a pay increase of six per cent in year one, and six per cent in year two compounded in an agreement which should have come into effect from November 3, 2021.

UCASE President Vincent Morrison said that, so far, the company has responded to the wage increase issue, which is only one of 18 items included in the union’s claims for completion of the current negotiations.

“The company’s offer is unacceptable to the workers and the union. It is most provocative and could cause industrial unrest and dislocation,” Morrison said.

The Jamaica Observer also learnt that the more than 600 production workers employed to the company had given a 72-hour warning of possible industrial action which expired at 6:00 am on Monday. Any industrial action was, however, delayed by the intervention of the ministry.

In a letter to the managing director of the mining company, Leonid Stavitskiy, dated March 16, Morrison insisted that “common sense should and must prevail”, noting that Stavitsky’s response also suggested that “the company stands ready to continue the process of meeting with the union to arrive at an amicable agreement”.

The union said that it had made itself available to meet with Stavitsky and his team to seek an amicable settlement, with no success.

Last October the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT), where the dispute is likely headed unless an agreement can be hammered out at the MLSS by the end of the week, had awarded production workers a a long-awaited pay increase of a compounded 12 per cent over a two years — 2019-2021.

A division of the tribunal comprising Donald “Danny” Roberts, chairman; Jacqueline Irons; and Dr Denese Morrison, awarded increases of six per cent for the first year of the agreement, which ended November 2, 2020 and a further six per cent increase as of November 3, 2021. This was in response to the claim by UCASE for a wage increase of 12 per cent in the initial year, and a further 15 per cent in year two.

At that time, Stavitskiy noted that the company’s brief showed that the cost to implement the union’s claim would be in excess of US$10.6 million, and that in its continued operations, the company is dependent on support from its parent company to survive, as the local operation is not profitable.

He also noted that since the recommissioning of the Ewarton refinery in 2010, UC Rusal Jamaica has sustained substantial losses, which have been confirmed by its audited financial statements prepared by reputable independent audit firm KPMG, and which shows accumulated deficit of just over $1 billion as of December 31, 2020.

The IDT’s award followed six months of arbitration and 27 meetings held by the IDT. However, the reference to the IDT by the MLSS followed some two years of failed local level negotiations, as well as the conciliatory efforts of the MLSS.