Strike halts largest bauxite operation in Guyana

GEORGETOWN/MOSCOW, Nov 23 (Reuters) - A strike over wages and job cuts has stopped output at Guyana's largest bauxite mine, a subsidiary of Russian aluminum company RUSAL, the leader of the union involved in the dispute said on Monday. Charles Sampson, president of the Guyana Bauxite Workers Union, told Reuters workers were resisting pressure by the company to accept 75 layoffs in return for a 10 percent wage increase for the remaining workers. The mine employs 500 people. Guyana, in South America, is the fourth largest supplier of bauxite to the United States. The strike at the Aroaima mine, 65 miles (105 km) south of the capital Georgetown, began on Sunday and there was no immediate end in sight, Sampson said. "The company has not been negotiating in good faith; they are wasting our time," he said. "The union cannot sanction jobs cuts; this is ridiculous." RUSAL disputed the union leader's statement. "We are in a constructive dialogue with the unions and employees as well as the state authorities and plan to reach the final agreement soon," RUSAL's press office said in an e-mailed statement. "The current destructive actions by certain employees and unions are in violation of the collective labour agreement and labour discipline (and are) aimed at destabilizing the situation among the company's staff." Late on Monday, the government said it was sending its chief labor officer Yoganand Persaud to try and broker an agreement. RUSAL bought the Aroaima operations from the government in 2004, through its local subsidiary Bauxite Company Guyana Incorporated. (Additional reporting by Aleksandras Budrys in Moscow) (Reporting by Neil Marks; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; editing by Carol Bishopric and Anthony Barker)