The Concerns of ABI Workers as the Aluminum smelter Restarts

- Interview, Éric Drolet, President, United Steelworkers, Local 9700 -

5,000-strong solidarity march with locked-out ABI workers, Trois-Rivières, May 25, 2019

Workers at the ABI aluminum smelter in Bécancour ratified their collective agreement on July 2, 2019, after 18 months of an intense fight against Alcoa/Rio Tinto which had locked them out. In this struggle, the ABI workers inspired workers across Quebec, Canada and in many countries, finding ways and means to fight the Alcoa/Rio Tinto cartel’s concessionary dictate and refusal to negotiate and Quebec government’ disgraceful role as ally and representative of this global cartel against the collective interests of workers and Quebec and its natural resources. Workers’ Forum wishes all the best to the ABI workers in their fight in defence of their rights and dignity as they are now back at work.[1] Workers' Forum met recently with Éric Drolet, the president of United Steelworkers Local 9700 about the situation facing workers as the the smelter is restarting.

Workers' Forum: Are all ABI workers back at work now and how do you characterize the situation they are facing?

Éric Drolet: Since mid-January, 100 per cent of our workers who were still on the recall lists have returned to work. Since January 11, 2018 we have had close to 200 retirements or resignations. These losses are beyond the job cuts made. So right now, to try to get through the summer ABI is hiring massively to make up for this shortage of workers. The first cohort of approximately 20 to 30 new workers came in on January 13, another group on February 3, and a third starting on February 17.

The employer has repeatedly confirmed to us that to meet the normal workforce requirement to operate the plant, the total number of workers must be approximately 975. However, where previously we had nearly 876 regular positions and the rest of the workers were casuals, currently we are at 796 regular positions, and the rest, nearly 200, will be casual.

In an aluminum smelter you need a minimum threshold to operate the plant. Our threshold at the aluminum smelter, given the size of the factory, is around 950 or more.

Regarding the restart of the tanks, we have three series of 240 tanks, for a total of 720. We restarted the first two series and we have reached about 50 restarted in the third series. At the end of the line, when we have restarted all the tanks that can be restarted, as some may be too damaged or at the end of their life, approximately 150 to 200 tanks must be replaced with new tanks.

ABI workers vote to ratify the collective agreement at general membership meeting in Bécancour, July 2, 2019 and return to work with their heads high. (Metallos)

WF: How does the reduction of the number of regular workers affect production?

ED: It affects it indirectly. This elimination of jobs, together with the retirements, has led to a restructuring of positions. It has caused almost 400 direct job transfers of people who have changed positions, or whose positions have been modified. In other words, the job description was changed, either by a new work organization or because of retirement, which created a domino effect. When a person retires, someone, probably from outside the department, comes to replace this person through a job posting, and this person also has to be replaced, and so on. At the end of the line, there are around 400 people who have changed positions and tasks.

These people have to be trained in their new tasks, and many job descriptions have been changed. In addition to that, we are going to have to train almost 200 new workers. It is a huge task. As the smelter is restarting, we find ourselves with deep holes in our structure everywhere. Where there were skilled people who were there for a long time and have now retired, they are now being replaced by people who have certain skills, but you cannot replace a worker with 33 years of service with a worker with five years of service and have the certainty that you will receive the same performance. In addition, we have about 100 workers who will be eligible for retirement in the next year. This will bring additional pressure.

There is a lot of pressure when it comes to training. For example, among the people who are going to be displaced, there may be some who are going to be moved from a task that requires 48 hours of training to a task that requires four, five or six months before being trained on all aspects of the job. In the case of the foundry, for example, with the casting of the metal, to get through all the stages of training we can say that a worker needs an entire year to master all the tasks.

For us this is a huge challenge, and as I speak to you, although we have presented the challenges we are facing to the employer many times, I must say that so far the employer has listened to us very little or not at all. The employer is very slow to respond.

We have to stay focused on health and safety in the restart. We have problems with the employer on this. Not that the employer is not concerned with health and safety but it has cut training hours. We have issues about where hours were cut to avoid having people who are not sufficiently trained, which can cause health and safety problems. On average, training hours have been cut by around 30 to 50 per cent, depending on the sector.

For us, health and safety has always been a priority -- we have no choice in an industry like ours. We have always said that we want to ensure healthy retirees and that when we pass through the gate after our shift we do it with all our limbs intact.

As for the new work organization, it is much more focused on the employer's management rights than before. This issue has always been important to United Steelworkers Local 9700. The work organization must be negotiated and be an integral part of our collective agreement. Now, this is no longer negotiated -- this is no longer part of the collective agreement but considered part of management rights. The employer's responsibility to our rights is now limited to notifying us 60 days in advance of the changes it wishes to make. We have a minimal right of representation, which is to send our comments and the modifications we would like to make but the employer is not required to take them into account. This is a huge change that concerns us a lot.

New work organization can include just about anything -- work schedules, task descriptions, and these are all left to the discretion of the employer. We do not yet know the impact that all this in going to have because in a restart situation the new work organizations that have been decided have not yet been implemented.

Regarding casuals, we also are in a learning situation. Previously, casual workers worked all the hours for which they were hired. They had their schedules set in advance and followed them. They had their vacation calendar and were part of a team. For older people who are going to be casuals, that same procedure is probably going to be followed. The worker should stay on the same task as it was before. But for others, with the new system that has been put in place, we are not sure. Will they end up in one, two or even three different sectors, treated a bit like mere job fillers? Will they work all their hours? It is not clear.

WF: Do you want to add something in conclusion?

ED: We have several concerns. We want to be sure that 35 years from now we will still be talking about ABI as an active plant -- that it is not going to become a wasteland. It seems to us that the owners are more interested in observing, setting up and redoing the working methods than in restarting the plant. The plan for restarting the plant has to be a comprehensive one. This means that it is not only a matter of restarting the tanks, but establishing trust between the parties, the employer and union on the basis of mutual respect, not just respect for the employer. We are also concerned about the training -- the sheer quantity of training we have to provide versus our ability to provide it and the time we have to do it, and the fact that the training plan has been modified.

That is about where we are at, at this time.

Note

This article was published in

Number 9 - March 3, 2020

Article Link:
The Concerns of ABI Workers as the Aluminum smelter Restarts - Interview, Éric Drolet, President, United Steelworkers, Local 9700

    

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca