Workers at Rio Tinto Alcan aluminium smelter in Straumsvík voted in favour of strike action. The strike, which has been announced for 2 December, is expected to force a total shut down of operations. Negotiations to avert the strike are ongoing, but trade unionists report little confidence in a swift solution after having been intimidated by management. If no collective bargaining agreement is reached between the six involved trade unions and the management by December 2, the strike will begin. The main point of disagreement is Rio Tinto Alcan’s intention to hire more contractors instead of employing workers directly.
English: http://grapevine.is/news/2015/11/23/preparations-to-shut-down-aluminium-smelter …
http://grapevine.is/news/2015/11/06/aluminium-smelter-workers-vote-to-go-on-strike/
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.