As Brazilian pellet producer Samarco struggles to resume operations, it has decided to furlough about 800 workers, effective Thursday, the company said this week.
Samarco noted it will provisionally suspend the employees’ contracts for two months. A new furlough could then be applied for three more months, following negotiations with a local union.
Samarco said it has tried to keep its workers, following a halt in its operations in November 2015, but the third furlough period is a result of “uncertainties over Samarco’s restart.”
“The miner has employed all efforts to obtain the needed licenses to resume operations, but factors that don’t depend on the company have caused delays in the licensing process,” the company said.
Samarco said it has about 1,800 employees, including the 800 workers that will be furloughed provisionally.
“As the emergency phase [following the Mariana disaster] has passed, Samarco expects to resume operations. However, 18 months after a halt in [our] operations, we can’t set a precise date for a restart. There are many uncertainties and phases to be met, which could increase even more the consequences of our inactivity,” Samarco said.