ArcelorMittal workers vote to strike in Algeria

ALGIERS - Workers at the ArcelorMittal steelworks in Annaba, northeast Algeria, voted Thursday to go on an unlimited strike from June 20 to back a pay claim, a union official said.

"Five thousand workers took part this morning in a general assembly and they unanimously voted in favour of an unlimited strike, which can only begin on June 20 because of the legal delays," Smain Kouadria said.

The strike warning will officially be handed in on Sunday.

Pay talks between the management of ArcelorMittal and the unions broke down on Tuesday, according to the union.

However, the communications official for the steel complex, Mohamed Guedha, said Thursday that "talks have not broken off" and added that the director of ArcelorMittal Annaba, Vincent Le Gouic, had made proposals to the labour force in a letter on Tuesday.

"Management will continue the dialogue with the union," the letter said.

It gave a timetable for "the opening in December of talks on salaries for the year 2011, the setting up in November of a bonus system contingent on the performance of the company, the opening in October of talks on the indemnity scheme and the updating from September of the collective bargaining agreement."

The union also wants the steel giant to apply a clause of an agreement signed between the Federation of Workers in Mechanical Industry, Electricity and Electronics (FNTMEE) and the Algerian state investment firm Translob, which holds 30 percent of shares in ArcelorMittal Annaba, Kouadria said.

"Management doesn't recognise this branch convention, though ... Translob is a shareholder in ArcelorMittal Annaba," the union official added.

ArcelorMittal chief executive Le Gouic stated that the average basic salary has increased by 25 per cent since January 2009 and will go up again by another five percent on July 1.

The company employs some 6,000 salaried workers and annually produces about 700,000 tonnes of steel.