Nearly 50 tradies at Alcoa's Portland Aluminium strike over pay dispute

Negotiations for a replacement enterprise agreement for the smelter have been ongoing for several months between the employer and the Australian Metal Workers' Union and Electrical Trades Union.

Shop steward Roger Middleton said 46 employees stopped work on Tuesday after about eight months of negotiations reached a stalemate. He said workers refused to accept Alcoa's offer of a 13 per cent increase across four years.

"They put their offer out to vote, that offer was declined by a percentage of 72 to 28," he said. "That was a clear message from the trades group that it wasn't enough."

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He said many - once staunch supporters of their employer - had reached a tipping point.

"In the previous 10 years we've taken some very low or no pay rises," Mr Middleton said.

"We've had some wage freezes of one or one-and-a-half to two per cent wage increases because the company wasn't doing so well, so we took a hit on the basis we'd get repaid when times got better.

"Well, times have gotten better and it's on public record they're making plenty of money at the moment but there's no money for their internal trades group. The wage increase we're talking about would equate to one dollar per one tonne produced.

"We're still hoping to seek a positive resolution to this, none of us want to be out here losing wages. We want to see Portland Aluminium succeed because it's our livelihood and it's important to the community."

An Alcoa spokesperson said it was "committed" to ongoing talks.

"We are committed to negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is both fair to employees and sustainable for our business," they said.

"The offer we have put forward is competitive in both the region and industry, and fair given the already generous pay and conditions provided by the business.

"While we respect the right of employees and unions to take protected industrial action as part of the negotiation process, we don't believe it will assist in resolving this matter and are concerned about the impact it could have on families and the broader community.

"We have contingency plans in place to mitigate any industrial action and to ensure the health and safety our workforce."

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