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| Antonio Gaspar (right) while on a visit to Norway |
“The closeness of top management to Alunorte’s Union is a trademark of changes which have taken place since Hydro entered the role as manager of the bauxite and alumina operations in Brazil”, says Antonio Gaspar, head of the Union that represents around 1,500 employees at Alunorte. “The company sought to be closer to the Union, to talk more, and listen more. The proof is the relation that the top management, even the CEO of Hydro, has with us, something totally different from before.”
Interviews with Union leaders as part of an information process are also indicated as practical actions to establish a closer relationship. “This demonstrated for us a big quest in learning about the worker’s reality through the Union perspective”, says Gaspar.
Another unexpected initiative was a Hydro sponsored visit to Norway for six Union leaders from the Paragominas bauxite mine, Alunorte and Albras smelter, the three operations in the state of Pará.
After visiting Vaekero, Karmoy and meeting with Union leaders in Norway, the Alunorte Union leader was impressed on how the value “respect” is put into practice. “We could verify in a practical way how the worker is treated, respected and heard. How close is the relationship of the line management to the shop floor”, affirms Gaspar.
Some changes started to be seen in Alunorte and resulted in a drastic decrease of complaints from the workers. “The management is seeking a participative approach with the workers, respecting more their rights and acting with respect” says Gaspar.
In 2011, he says, there were many denouncements from employees related to harassment and disrespect to the workers’ rights. “This was corrected with Johnny Undeli (B&A vice-president) and Fernando Simoes (B&A Head of Operations) coming more into the operation. Then we saw the management to be different, more aligned to what Hydro preaches, so things started to improve”, states Gaspar. The improvements are seen as the first steps in a long road. “We know that we’ve just begun”, reflects the Alunorte workers’ leader.
Need for faster and practical actions
Although the closer relationship is a positive development, Gaspar considers that the issues presented by the Union to be evaluated and corrected only recently started to be addressed. The lack of change on the “older” management style is one of the complaints from the workers.
“We still have a long way to go to the ‘Hydro Way’ be really established as the management style. We hear operators saying that things are imposed over them. Unfortunately some of the managers keep the old management style”, complaints Gaspar, who believes that the top management should take stronger measures to change this. The president of Sinquifarma considers that the initiatives are not coming fast enough. “The worker is still fearful, considering that the situation will not change”, he says.
Concerns with safety and operational results
Looking for the future, two main issues concern Gaspar. One is related to the refinery’s productive capacity, which has never been achieved. “We’ve seem a decrease (in production) on the last 3 years, which reflects on the conditions of the company to improve the worker’s benefits and salary. We need to focus on solving such problems”, states the Union leader. For Gaspar, the workers have a lot to contribute to overcome the current challenges, with ideas and suggestions that deserve attention from the leadership.
Another major challenge is safety, considering that in 2012 the refinery recorded a high level of accidents. For Gaspar, the Union can play an important role in the promotion of awareness amongst the workers. “We can participate in the training and ‘integration process’ all new workers. We should use this training to share what has been improved in terms of quality, housekeeping and safety”, proposes the Union leader.
After collecting suggestion from the workers on how to improve the safety performance and delivering it to the refinery management last year, Gaspar reaffirms the willingness to cooperate on this process: “we will continue to alert the workers about safety!”
