Alcoa troubled by Portland Aluminium workers’ strike: Warns may cause community trauma

US-based Alcoa, the biggest employer in Portland, has raised awareness of the prevailing workers' strike at its aluminium smelter and has warned that it might cause irreparable consequences to the "broader community" in the area. Alcoa's Portland Aluminium has 535 working professionals under its wing.

In the break of dawn on March 9, almost 50 Alcoa workers led a picketing rally to the site in honour of an industrial action programme that has been continued for over a week.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and the Electrical Trades Union have signed up to manage this group and the larger campaign that has been working to crack an agreement for over eight months. The employees claim that the company has turned a deaf ear to their demands, and no step has been yet taken to rectify the flaws.

An Alcoa associate, while giving a statement at the behest of the company, said that the authority's decision of a 13 per cent salary hike over a period of four years is equally "fair" to the workers and "sustainable" for the brand. 

"We believe the offer we have put forward is competitive in both the region and industry and fair given the already generous pay and conditions provided by the business," the spokesperson notified.

"We don't believe [the protest] will assist in resolving this matter and are concerned about the impact it could have on families and the broader community," he added.

To further illustrate their ideology, Alcoa has permitted a 70 per cent grant to the total wage increase over the years, i.e. 9 per cent from the allotted 13 per cent, within the primary twelve months of successfully drafting a deal.

Elaborate plans have been streamlined to negotiate a proper industrial programme to monitor the working conditions in the plant health and safety of the workers.

Roger Middleton has served as an electrician in Alcoa's Portland Aluminium smelter for 33 ripe years and feels befuddled owing to the conditions laid down by the company at this moment.

He exclaimed: "The Company is not entertaining any of it at all."

Mr Middleton explains that the workers have demanded a just and feasible wage settlement alongside a proper overtime protocol.

He also pointed out that the workers were urging for a 36-hour work week, which Mr Middleton asserts is the industry standard. He further goes on to say that the workers need to be sure of the working conditions before joining since this is a commitment for four years. Moreover, most of the people were now doing overtime for not a single penny.

Mr Middleton then talked about the subtle commitment of the workers who wish to work because they like their jobs, but not getting paid is something no working professional would keep up with.

He stated: "The people here are quite happy to do overtime. They take pride in their work and are proud to work here. They won't walk away from problems they'll fix it at the time."

Alcoa yielded US$12.4 billion in 2022 with a significant increase of 2.4 per cent Y-o-Y, originally due to the augmented alumina and aluminium prices. 

On the other hand, the union has claimed that in the last ten years, workers were allowed negligible salary hikes with many stagnant employee wage charts since the company was witnessing a downward trajectory. Now that the economy is on an upward stride, Alcoa wishes to make the most out of the years they have missed in contemplation.

Mr Middleton pointed out that Alcoa's workers in western Australia have been enjoying better working conditions and fairer wages than the employees of the Victorian side.

"They're on high wages because they haven't taken the wage freezes like we have over the years," he continued, "They earn something like $14,000 to $17,000 more than us."

"That's a bit of a slap in the face to the blokes here," he seemed deeply hurt and disappointed.

He assured the workers were eager to see the Portland Aluminium smelter gain a greater position in the aluminium industry value chain.

"It's important to us and the community. Now that the company is making a fair few dollars, the blokes just want to see a little bit of return, a little bit of respect," he concluded.

Among the 535 total employees Portland Aluminium directly employs, almost 58 have been bonded in this agreement for good, and it has been confirmed that the strike will continue until next week.