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ArcelorMittal Comments on 24-Hour Work Stoppages
12/08/2011 - Willie Smit, Management Committee Member and Executive Vice President, Head of Human Resources for ArcelorMittal Group, offered a statement on the European strikes, noting that the 24-hour production stoppage is limited to the four long carbon plants in Luxembourg and two flat carbon plants in Liege, Belgium, and Florange, France.
Willie Smit, Management Committee Member and Executive Vice President, Head of Human Resources for ArcelorMittal Group, offered a statement on the European strikes, noting that the 24-hour production stoppage is limited to the four long carbon plants in Luxembourg and two flat carbon plants in Liege, Belgium, and Florange, France.
“The majority of ArcelorMittal's major industrial sites are largely unaffected except for symbolic actions,” he said. “ArcelorMittal respects the rights of its employees to demonstrate. However, the company believes these stoppages are unhelpful given the current economic environment.
“No company enjoys having to stop production or even having to consider permanent closures. ArcelorMittal is a steel company and we exist to make steel. But the decisions to do so form part of an industrial response to the situation of structural over-capacity that exists today in Europe.
“It is clear that Europe is facing serious economic challenges, which are reported on every day on the front pages of the world's media,” Smit continued. “Already it is likely that the Eurozone is in recession and that Q4 and Q1 sequential GDP growth will be negative. Against this backdrop, it is unrealistic to think that the European steel industry can be unaffected. Steel demand in Europe is still at approximately only 75% of pre-crisis levels, and we do not see any swift return to pre-crisis levels. It would be far more damaging to the long-term viability of ArcelorMittal in Europe to ignore this economic reality and to produce steel that we know we cannot sell.
“Our strategy is to make sure that we protect the long-term interests of our sites in Europe and worldwide. We recognize that this is difficult for all concerned, but through strong and continuous social dialogue we are working to minimize the effect as far as possible," he concluded.
