Yara ammonia plants resume production
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
01 27 08
Production plants at Yara Trinidad Limited cranked
into operation yesterday as workers returned
to their jobs at the end of a short-lived strike.
The workers walked off the jobs last Friday vowing
to with-hold their labour for the maximum three
months.
However, after hurried meetings during the weekend
the two sides agreed to a 16.5 per cent wage increase
and resolved a number of issues which had delayed
settlement over the last few months.
In
a statement, Yara’s human resource manager
Fitzroy Harewood said that the strike action officially
ended on Monday, as the Oilfield Workers Trade
union (OWTU) closed the deal on the negotiations.
Harewood said the settlement covers the period
August 1, 2007 to July 31st 2010.
“The settlement includes 16.5% percentage
wage increases over a three-year period, with the
1st year at five per cent, second year at 5.5 per
cent and the third year at six per cent,” Harewood
said.
He said that workers received improvements in
medical plans. He said Yara also committed to discussing
revised work arrangements for shift employees during
periods of plant maintenance.
He said workers have also received lump sum cash
payments in the second year, restructuring of other
benefits including Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)
at 23 cents for every 1 point rise in the retail
price index over the three year period, as well
as an 80 per cent increase in housing allowance
and 50 per cent increase in travelling allowance.
Harewood lamented that the weekend strike had
affected production at Yara.
However,
he noted that because of the new agreements,
workers were now receiving competitive compensation
in the energy industry. Yara operates a three-plant
ammonia production facility at Savonetta in central
Trinidad. The company exports 99 per cent of its
annual 1.3 million metric tons of ammonia, making
T&T the world’s leading exporter of ammonia.
Story By Radhica sookraj from The Trinidad Guardian
The
Trinidad Guardian
23rd January, 2008
Copyright
©2007 Petroleumworld. All Rights Reserved.
