Strike at Alcoa’s Mosjøen aluminium smelter to escalate further if the ongoing labour dispute continues

Despite several meetings with Industri Energi and Norsk Industri, the collective agreement between the two companies to secure a new labour deal failed, due to which some employees at Alcoa's Mosjøen aluminium smelter in Norway went on strike on Monday, August 22. However, Alcoa's Lista plant in Norway is not currently part of the ongoing strike.

In a more considerable labour dispute that affects other areas of Norway's industrial sector, Alcoa said that 17 of the 550 employees at the Mosjøen smelter failed to report to work on Monday. If the strike continues on Wednesday, the number will rise to 35 members. A reduction agreement that applies to Alcoa's factory specifies what will happen if a strike gets out of control, including delivery halts, temporary output cutbacks at the smelter, and an increasing number of workers walking out.

"The agreement allows either the union or the Company to put certain functions on temporary leave during the strike action, so long as it does not compromise the safe operation of the facility," said Alcoa.

Several industrial facilities representing the Norwegian electrochemical sector are participating in the strike. Although the labour talks span several locations, each strike site has its own Controlled Reduction Agreement. The agreements specify what will happen once the strike starts.

About 550 people work for Mosjøen, out of which 444 workers are covered by the union contract with Industri Energi. With five potlines and 404 pots, Mosjøen has an annual manufacturing capacity of 200,000 tonnes. These procedures will start in the instance of Mosjøen in line with its Controlled Reduction Agreement, which states:

• Alcoa Mosjøen will now aim toward a 20 per cent decrease in smelter production by September 19, should the strike persist that long.
• Deliveries of goods from Alcoa Mosjøen will halt until the end of the strike.
• If the strike lasts through September 19, production will be reduced by another 10 per cent every other week until just 34 of the 404 pots are still in use.
• The agreement permits either the union or the company to temporarily suspend some operations during the strike action, provided that this does not jeopardise the facility's ability to operate safely.

Alcoa's Mosjen factory, which makes Sustana sustainable aluminium and features an induction furnace powered by renewable energy, is becoming increasingly significant. It has received around $50 million in investments over the last three years. The firm announced in June that it will make additional investments of $51 million by the end of 2026 to boost output to 214,000 metric tonnes annually.