BNamericas cited Mr Emilio Campos general secretary of Sutracarbonorca union as saying that Venezuelan government is not interested in taking action to revive aluminum sector companies.

Mr Campos said that small and large-scale companies as well as Venezuelan investors have put forward proposals to revive the sector but the government doesn't seem to be interested in these solutions.

Workers at state owned carbon anodes firm Carbonorca proposed that Swiss company Glencore which buys aluminum from the government, help out by looking for alternative markets to sell its products. Currently, state reducer Alcasa is Carbonorca's only customer.

The aluminum sector's small scale processing plants have also called on the government to form a strategic partnership to give the metal more added value in order to sell it at a better price but no interest has been shown in implementing these measures.
Mr Campos said that the government's macabre intention is to follow the Chinese model. It wants to reduce the companies to a bare minimum and hand them over to Chinese owned companies so that the collective contract and union models can be eliminated.

Chinese owned Chinalco is currently in charge of USD 403mn recovery plan for Alcasa. For now, union leaders are calling on workers to assume an attitude of ownership to resuscitate the companies which they consider the foundation of Bolívar state's industry.

They are also waiting for the guidelines on the new socialist aluminum corporation which is expected to be announced in June. The corporation will control companies such as Venalum, Carbonorca, Rialca, Alunasa, Alucasa, Cabelum, Bauxilum and Alcasa, bringing all the workers together under a socialist banner.

(Sourced from Business News Americas)