The strike action against Yara Trinidad Ltd. ended Monday, Jan. 21 at noon. It began Friday, Jan. 18 at 3:00 p.m. Yara had closed its three Trinidad plants the night before at midnight in preparation for the strike.
Yara said discussions with the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) intensified Jan. 18 and continued throughout the weekend until a negotiated settlement was achieved Jan. 21. Yara expected a full return to work by its employees on Tuesday, Jan. 22.
Yara’s three major plants are expected to resume production one at a time over the next week. The Yara Trinidad Ltd. plant (1,000 mt/d) is expected to resume production Thursday, Jan. 24. The Tringen I plant (1,400 mt/d) will come up on Friday, Jan. 25. Tringen II (1,600 mt/d) is expected up on Tuesday, Jan. 29. Based on these numbers, Yara would have lost at least 33,400 mt of production during the downtime. At current prices, this would amount to approximately $15-$16 million.
The settlement covers the new collective agreements for the bargaining units at Yara Trinidad Ltd. over the period Aug. 1, 2007, to July 31, 2010. The settlement includes a 16.5 percent wage increase over a three-year period – first year, 5 percent; second year, 5.5 percent; and third year, 6 percent.
In addition to lump sum cash payments in the second year, they agreed to restructuring of other benefits, including COLA at $0.23 for every one point rise in the retail prices index over the three-year period; an 80 percent increase in housing allowance; a 50 percent increase in traveling allowance; substantial improvements in medical plan payments; and a commitment for the company and the union to discuss revised work arrangements for shift employees during periods of plant maintenance turnarounds.
Yara said it is confident that the achieved settlement places its employees in a very competitive compensation position in the energy sector.
Yara said the negotiations between Yara and the OWTU began on June 12, 2007, and took a grave turn in January 2008. Yara said the negotiations have been very extensive, including 32 bilateral sessions, 7 conciliation sessions at the Ministry of Labor, 2 closed door meetings between the president of Yara Trinidad Ltd. and the president general of the OWTU, and approximately 4 further bilateral sessions between the company and the OWTU, up to and including the meeting that resulted in final settlement.
Yara Trinidad Ltd. manages and operates a three-plant ammonia production facility located at Savonetta in central Trinidad. Yara Trinidad exports 99 percent of its annual 1.3 million mt of ammonia.