Alcoa Corporation is likely to reach an agreement with United Steelworkers as the management of the Aluminerie de Bécancour Inc. (ABI) smelter in Québec, Canada offered a revised labour contact to the United Steelworkers yesterday.
ABI smelter is owned by Alcoa (74.95%) and Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. (25.05%), which has three potlines with an annual operating capacity of 413,000 tonnes per year. The smelter has been operating at a reduced capacity since January 11, 2018 as the United Steelworkers rejected a labour contract for the hourly workers. One of three potlines was in operation during the lockout period and Alcoa announced an additional curtailment of one half of that line on December 19, 2018. This led to a drop in Canadian aluminium production in 2018.
After continuous negotiations and mediation sessions, ABI’s management is likely to end the labour dispute with a new contract. The final contract offer is valid until July 5, 2019. If the workers accept the final offer the management will start the process to restart the smelter on July 26, 2019. If the United Steelworkers refuse to accept the offer, it will lead to complete shutdown of the smelter.
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