On Thursday 10 September 2020, Luxembourg-headquartered steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal announced that 570 jobs were at risk in the Grand Duchy as a result of cost-saving measures in light of the coronavirus crisis.
The management of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg met with the Board of Directors of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg yesterday to discuss the challenging market conditions facing the company. They argued that already tough market conditions paired with the coronavirus pandemic contributed to a significant drop in customer activity for the steelmaking industry. These structural impacts reportedly represent a serious threat to ArcelorMittal’s industrial and administrative activities in Luxembourg.
In order to ensure a long-term future for the organisation, the management of ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg concluded that further cost-saving measures have to be taken and some changes must be implemented. As a consequence of this, around 570 jobs (1/3 administration, 2/3 production sites) in ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg will be affected, across a number of different ArcelorMittal sites and offices in the country.
Consultation has begun between employee representatives and the Luxembourg government to mitigate the impact of this situation.
In light of news of this restructure, the LCGB trade union has called for an urgent steel tripartite. The union argued that, since the end of the PostLux 2016 agreement, the economic situation was already not looking good. Then came the health crisis; this accumulation of crises has led to harmful situations for the steel production sites in the Grand Duchy and greatly accentuates the risks of compromising jobs.
However, the LCGB stressed that the "COVID-19 argument" should not become a "scapegoat" to initiate restructuring. In a statement, the union said that "ArcelorMittal will have to assume its responsibilities because the COVID pretext is not the only factor responsible for this deterioration".
Following ArcelorMittal's announcement to reduce its workforce, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, also commented: “We are currently living through a dark moment in the country's steel history. I am thinking above all of the employees who find themselves in a difficult situation and who, with their families, live in uncertainty". The Economy Minister also insisted that this restructure be undertaken "in the most social way possible".
