Displaying items by tag: insurance

India: The India Cements will pay each of its 500 cement plant workers an additional US$736/yr, effective retroactively from the start of the 2023 Indian financial year on 1 April 2022. This will subsequently rise by up to another US$736/yr from the start of the 2026 financial year. The Hindu BusinessLine News has reported that the move is the result of talks with workers' unions. The India Cements additionally agreed to pay a total US$202,000/yr in premiums on medical insurance policies for all cement plant employees.

The India Cements operates 10 cement facilities in India.

Namibia: 200 Cheetah Cement employees have gone on strike to protest low wages and lack of pensions and medical aid. The Namibia Press Agency has reported that salaries have fallen behind inflation, having remained level for four years.

Cheetah Cement general manager Kevin Lee called strikers’ demands ‘unrealistic’ and said that the producer had done everything in its power, but now ended in a ‘deadlock’ with workers.

US: Lehigh Cement has announced plans to suspend operations at its 0.5Mt/yr Glens Falls, New York, plant and associated Moreau quarry by 1 May 2020 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The move will see its local staff of 90 reduced to 36 for the duration of the shutdown. Times Union newspaper has reported that Lehigh Cement will cover the 54 dismissed employees’ health insurance payments and ‘provide assistance in applying for unemployment and other layoff-related benefits.’ Lehigh Cement Glens Falls plant manager David Dreyer said, “We look forward to the day when our nation's health is no longer at such risk and our customers' demand for cement products returns, so we can welcome our employees back and resume full operation.”

India: Ambuja Cement has introduced a comprehensive Group Personal Accident Insurance (GPA) policy for truck drivers. The new policy has a policy cover of around US$7m. It is set to benefit nearly 12,000 drivers, who are third-party employees, in case of accidental death or permanent disability. The subsidiary of Switzerland’s LafargeHolcim says it is the first cement company in the local sector to start such as a plan.

“Road safety has been a big challenge as we have little control beyond our plants’ premises. Introduction of Group Personal Accident Insurance policy for the truck drivers – who operate for round-the-clock dispatches – is yet another step by Ambuja Cement to exhibit how much we value them and their work,” said Ajay Kapur, the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ambuja Cement.

Libya: The Libyan Cement Company (LCC) plans to rebuild and reopen two cement plants in Benghazi and Hawari. Ahmed Ben Halim, the chairman of parent company Joint Libyan Cement Company (JLCC), said that the priority was getting the plants near Benghazi operational again, according to the Arab Times newspaper. The plants closed in mid-2014 and remained under militant control until mid-2016.

Unfortunately, the plants were damaged in fighting in 2016. Following a survey LCC says that extensive rebuilding will be required and this may take up at least one year. Repair work will be covered by the company’s Political Violence Insurance policy with Lloyds of London.

LCC is 90% owned by the JLCC, a joint venture between Asamar Libya and the Economic and Social Development Fund. Asamer Libya was purchased in 2015 from Asamer by Libya Holdings Group, a company run by Ben Halim. LCC also operates a third cement plant at Derna that has remained operational throughout the conflict.