Strike ends at Arcelor's Algeria plant

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Workers at ArcelorMittal's

steel plant in Algeria ended on Thursday a three-day strike over pay increases that had halted production, a union official said.

The union chief at the plant said in a statement the strike had been halted on the orders of the national executive of the General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA).

The union is the only one officially recognised in Algeria and it usually follows the government's line.

The strikers had said they would stay off work until their demands were met for a pay rise but they came under pressure to call the action off after a local court this week ruled that the strike was illegal.

"Following the instructions given by the leaders of the UGTA ... we declare the strike over and call on the workers to resume their activities," Smain Kouadria, the union leader at the plant, said in a statement.

He added that he would resign from his position as union chief at the ArcelorMittal plant near the city of Annaba, eastern Algeria. ArcelorMittal managers were not immediately available for comment.

The El-Hadjar factory, in eastern Algeria, produced 750,000 tonnes of steel in 2009. Most is for domestic consumption though some is exported to the Mediterranean region.