Noumea strikers

drive hard bargain

July in Noumea was a good month for house-painting, chicken-coop building and fishing for some 3,000 striking workers from Le Nickel mining company.

Union Secretary-General, Gilbert Drayton, reminded the fishermen of his home address, so that they could make appropriate contributions to his household in the event of a good catch.

To avoid any over-heated dis turbances in the centre of town, the strikers took to holding their union meetings in the open air, on the Vallee du Tir football field. This was after the old building housing the Noumea Trades Hall had fairly shaken to its foundations when the workers first shouted their demands for la greve (strike) which began on July 2.

The workers originally called for an unlimited rolling strike, which after one week turned into chomage technique or lockout. Besides some 3,000 men at the Doniambo smelters in Noumea, this also involved over 1,000 men at the inland mining centres. A crucial point was reached when unionists threatened to with draw even the security teams and turn off the smouldering furnaces completely, if no satisfaction was in sight by July 21.

The strike began when the Societe Le Nickel (SLN) rejected a June arbitration award, which the union had accepted. The SLN said it was unable to meet the court award, in view of what it described as a “world nickel crisis”, which it claimed would force it to cut back this year’s much-publicised expansion programme.

After the Baron Guy de Rothschild had announced, only in May, that the company would this year be producing over 60,000 tons of nickel metal, on June 28 the company claimed it expected now only to sell about 43,000 tons (the equivalent of the 1970 production, before the two new giant electric furnaces came into operation).

The SLN said one of the three blast furnaces would thus have to be closed down, as well as possibly two of the 10 electric furnaces. The company also pointed out that wage increases last year added 16 per cent, to its payroll and it was unable this year to add the court award of an extra 6 per cent, in addition to the cost of living adjustments which already since December have risen another 6 per cent.

The workers, however, were un able to reconcile the much-publicised

Paris promises of increased produc tion with the sudden invocation of a “world crisis” on the nickel market.

All they were sure of was the fact that inflation is galloping to un known boundaries in New Caledonia.

In a bid to protest against the loss of buying power, Noumea dock workers, bank and other commerce employees as well as public servants in Customs, schools, post office, etc., all called for strikes during July.

There were some particularly tense moments in the Administration, at the Territorial Assembly and in the Trades Hall. However, the open-air meetings on the football grounds at the Vallee du Tir (rifle-shooting valley) created something of a picnic day atmosphere. Strikers were able to enjoy games of petanque (French bowls played with metal balls) before proceedings began, while piped music filled the field.

The only workers to raise their hands against the strike seemed to be some confused, over-exuberant drinkers.

The workers, many of them living comfortably during the strike from the rents and other proceeds of their investments, were driving a hard bargain. The arbitration award, at the end of a long nine-month legal battle, had recommended that all factory workers should be paid on a monthly, rather than hourly basis, with the public holiday and sickness pay which this entails. The award also included long service and other marginal benefits, including some overseas travel tickets, for older workers.

As factory production loss reached 3,000 tons and cuts in territorial revenue became more evident, the SLN announced, on July 19, the terms it was prepared to allow the workers.

In a solemn, two-hour Press con ference, the SLN warned that the threatened walk-out by security teams tending furnaces at minimal safety level, could result in serious consequences, including loss of work for two to three years while the furnaces were restored. The company then indicated how it was prepared to meet the arbitration award decisions, provided it was allowed to defer the application of certain measures until next year, in view of the market problems. At the same time, SLN manager in New Cale donia, Mr. Jean Lanchon, insisted that the workers should help to im prove productivity at the nickel installations and that a strong effort must be made to combat inflation.

Under these terms, it was expected that work would resume, with pro duction approaching its normal momentum in August.