At a union meeting officials of the general workers union, HLIF, (Shield), said the company had agreedto a number of changes, including getting rid of what workers called the "licking bonus," where the company sought to institute individual bonuses decided by a foreman after interviewing a worker.

Workers also won the company's agreement to set a guaranteed minimum floor for productivity bonuses in addition to the basic wage rate.

In a radio interview at the time of the contract rejection, Gylfi Ingvarsson, head shop steward at Ísal, said he thought one reason workers turned down the proposed pact was they did not trust the company to handle the new bonuses in a fair manner, given its infamous personnel management record.

At a union meeting in the plant February 21 several workers argued against the individual bonuses, pointing to their experience in the fishing industry. The bonuses, they said, are bad for workers' unity and their health.

Other workers expressed concern that the company would use a clause in the contract allowing it to review the bonus every year to effectively eliminate the lower limit, or guaranteed floor for the bonuses. For example, a company goal of calming down a bath of aluminum oxide in four minutes on the average has been reached by workers, but many worry the company will want to shorten the time even more.

HLIF president Sigurdur Sigurdsson told the newspaper Morgunbladid that the company also said it will give a reason each time it fires or lays off a worker. The country's labor code provides for a worker to defend him- or herself if it can be proved the firing was a result of their political views, including trade union activity. There is, however, no requirement in the law that companies must give a reason for firing an individual worker.

The wage package was improved slightly in the final contract, but many workers point out that given the low wage increases for many years and rising inflation, they are still far behind even in comparison to other sections of the working class. Workers at the plant will get an immediate 20 percent pay raise, partly retroactive to December 1, and around 3 percent increases each of the four years of the contract.

The contract negotiations and the stance of the workers was closely watched by other employers here, as the aluminum industry is the second largest export earner and is one they are expanding given low electricity and labor costs in the country. The Ísal plant, located 10 miles south of the capital, Reykjavík, produces about 168,000 tons of aluminum a year.  
 
 
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