Jamaican bauxite workers slow down at St. Ann

KINGSTON, April 23 (Reuters) - Workers employed by St. Ann Bauxite Company, formerly Kaiser Bauxite, staged a slowdown on Wednesday to protest the failure to reach a new three-year wage agreement.

"The workers are resolute. They want to change the way that they are paid and the amount they are paid," said the president of the University and Allied Workers Union, Lambert Brown.

The union represents more than 400 workers at the company, in which the Jamaican government holds a 51 percent stake. The rest is owned by a 50/50 joint venture between Century Aluminum (CENX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Noranda Aluminum.

Although employees reported to work, activities slowed to a crawl.

The company's management was expected to issue a statement later Wednesday.

The old collective labor agreement expired a year ago and the union said that it could not accept the offer made by the company at a meeting Tuesday night.

"The cost of living has skyrocketed and workers cannot accept the offer made by management," Brown said.

The workers signaled their intention to take industrial action on April 8, following a breakdown in wage talks. However, management asked for another meeting to settle the dispute.

The company produced 5.2 million tonnes of ore last year. Sixty percent of its bauxite is refined into alumina at the Gramercy plant in Louisiana.

(Editing by Jane Sutton; Editing by Marguerita Choy)