The strike in the electrochemical industry started last Monday. Then over 1,400 workers went on strike. On Tuesday, the Industri Energi trade union announced that a further 1,115 members will be made redundant next Monday, if no agreement is reached with the employers in Norsk Industri. 444 of these will be taken out at Alcoa in Mosjøen. Aluminum is produced here, which, among other things, goes into 3 out of 10 soda cans in Europe, and into European cars. The production is very power-intensive and the plant uses around 2 per cent of Norway’s total electricity consumption. Each of these blocks of aluminum weighs 12 tonnes and is exported by boat every week. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news – The fact that we are now also taking out parts of the aluminum industry on strike means that it is really starting to sting for the employers, stated the confederation leader in Industri Energi, Frode Alfheim. Will turn off 9 out of 10 furnaces It will be very dramatic, says leader Stian Nordal Jensen of the Mosjøen chemical workers union. – From Monday we will go out with 20-30 members. As production is scaled back, we are hiring more and more employees. Stian Nordal Jensen is leader of the Mosjøen chemical workers association. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news It also means that 370 out of a total of 404 ovens at the company are turned off. The first furnace was started in February 1958. And although some of the furnaces have been replaced, operations have never been scaled back on such a scale before. – It will be very expensive. Metal prices are high, and restarting production is not cheap either, says Nordal Jensen. Time-consuming shutdown When asked what it will cost to switch off and start the ovens again, Nordal Jensen says that it is a question of large sums. – It is probably several hundred million kroner. Not only is it expensive to turn off the stoves, it also takes a very long time. – It takes time to disconnect the ovens. It’s not just turning off the power and leaving it alone, explains Nordal Jensen. The induction furnaces inside the aluminum plant stand in rows. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news – Starting the ovens again takes many months. The first 20 percent takes four weeks to run down. After that, we drive down 10 percent every other week, and after approximately 19 weeks we are down to the smallest production we have. The last remaining furnaces must be kept running in order to have a safe restart of production, as part of a decommissioning agreement. – It takes some time to drive down, but it also takes time to drive up. So even with a wind-down agreement, this is very serious and will have enormous consequences, says director of organization and legal department in Norsk Industri, Carla AM Botten-Verboven. Director Carla AM Botten-Verboven, Norwegian Industry, organization department Photo: Tone Buene Nor does she know how expensive a stoppage in production can be. – It’s a bit difficult, because many of the decommissioning agreements are old. We will see this better when the process starts. Have never gone on strike before Employees at the plant in Mosjøen have never gone on strike before. The last conflict at the plant was in 1986 when the employer introduced a lockout of the workers. – So this is groundbreaking work for us, says Nordal Jensen. The main requirement for Industri Energi is to put in place the right to action in the local negotiations in each company. Scraps and scraps of aluminum are stored before being remelted into large ingots ready for dispatch. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news Norsk Industri does not agree with that, and believes that the right to strike should be at a central level, as it is today. – We think it is important that you do not get a local sanction right. – Is it possible to find a solution before Monday? – It is permissible to hope, but we are prepared for the strike to start on Monday, also in Mosjøen, she says. In addition to local rights of action, general wage conditions are on the list of demands from the workers. – We want to get paid when the store does well. There have been historic results in the smelter industry in recent years, and we want to retain part of the value creation we are helping to create, says Nordal Jensen. Trym Solhaug Vassvik is communications manager at Alcoa Norway, and wants to give the parties peace of mind. – Norsk Industri works to find solutions that both parties can accept so that we reach an agreement in this conflict. We want to give the parties peace of mind, and therefore do not comment further at this time. Trym Solhaug Vassvik is communications manager at Alcoa Norway Photo: Alcoa
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Alcoa Mosjøen is preparing for a strike from Monday – news Nordland
