Jamaica's Alpart reaches deal to cut work week

KINGSTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Alumina Partners of Jamaica and its workers' union implemented an agreement on Monday that avoids further layoffs but reduces the work week for the next four months. The agreement between the island's largest bauxite and alumina company and the National Workers Union guarantees that some 600 workers represented by the union would be employed for at least three days a week during that time. The company, known as Alpart, is operated by Russian conglomerate United Company RUSAL and Norwegian firm Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL). It had already cut its work force by 10 percent and sent 150 workers home late last year. Alpart has a production capacity of 1.65 million tonnes of alumina yearly, but cut production by 50 percent in January due to a slowdown in the sale of alumina on the world market. "The company has said that for the next four months it is going to ensure that nobody is out of a job," Union president Vincent Morrison said in a radio interview. "The union believes that this is a creative way to try and save jobs."