Colombian coal producer Cerrejon is expected to gradually restart operations on 8 December following a three-month strike, according to Igor Diaz, president of Cerrejon's largest union Sintracarbon.
The restart will begin at the Annex coal pit, with operations at the Patilla, Oreganal and La Puente pits to follow before 12 December, Sintracarbon said.
The strike disruption prevented up to 56,000 t/d, or 5.09mn t, of coal from reaching international markets. Cerrejon's exports averaged 1.6mn t/month in January-August this year.
Cerrejon said in an internal statement that the restart will be done in three phases. The first phase will entail mass Covid-19 testing among direct workers and contractors, with 2,000 tests already carried out since the strike ended, according to Sintracarbon, in addition to 1,300 voluntary tests in November, according to Cerrejon.
The second phase involves training for 10,000 workers to guarantee a safe restart and minimise health risks. "Our priority is to carry out a safe and responsible restart of operations. For this reason, within two weeks, we will be conducting massive virtual training on key health and safety issues," Cerrejon's vice president of human resources, Juan Carlos Consuegra, said.
The final phase is the progressive restart of operations "until reaching the planned production levels," Cerrejon said.
Technical roundtables began on 3 December to discuss changes to working shift patterns after the strike was lifted. Discussions began about health and safety and other issues surrounding new working shifts, in compliance with the agreement signed by Sintracarbon and Cerrejon, that was mediated by the labour ministry. The roundtables are expected to conclude on 30 December.
Sintracarbon said that weekly labour hours will rise to 84 with the changes in working patterns, which is almost double the 48 hours worked currently. This is based on 12 hour shifts across 21 days/month, compared with 12 hour shifts across 15 days/month currently.
Sintracarbon opposed Cerrejon's proposed changes to working shifts, which would result in 1,250 job losses. "We want to show that such an abrupt change in Cerrejon's working regime will increase fatigue and drive up accident rates and occupational diseases. Likewise, it will demotivate workers who have to work more hours, spend more in travel and accommodation and earn less," Sintracarbon said.
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