Strike hits Alcoa smelter output

SYDNEY, April 5 (Reuters) -

Alcoa of Australia Ltd said it would not be possible to maintain normal production levels at its Point Henry aluminium smelter in Australia after 150 workers walked off the job earlier on Wednesday.

"It is not possible to keep the plant running at its normal rate, we just don't have the staff to do it," Alcoa spokesman Brian Wills-Johnson told Reuters.

He said the smelter was no longer operating at its annual rate of about 160,000 tonnes of primary aluminium due to the strike, but could not say how much metal continued to be produced.

The striking workers, which included workers from Alcoa's nearby Anglesea power station, were working the day shift when the strike occurred, he said.

"The next shift is scheduled to start at seven tonight (0900 GMT), but I can't say if they will show up for work," Wills-Johnson said.

"Alcoa staff are currently performing the minimum operations to ensure the integrity of the smelter," the company said earlier in a statement.

The strike is over enterprise bargaining negotiations with the Australian Workers Union and other trade unions.

Enterprise agreements with expired 18 months ago at the Point Henry smelter and nine months ago at the power station and have been under active negotiation since last month, Alcoa said.

Alcoa tabled its last offer on Tuesday, the company said. A mass meeting of workers was scheduled for 7:00 a.m. on Thursday (2100 GMT Wednesday), Wills-Johnson said.

The strike action had not extended to Alcoa's larger smelter at Portland, Victoria, where a new enterprise bargaining agreement was reached earlier this year, he said.

04:31 04-05-00