According to the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper, the company began sending home workers on Monday. In a statement, the company said it had no choice, having failed to reach an agreement with the Steel Workers Union of Trinidad and Tobago on a way to keep workers on the payroll during the shutdown.

The company said it had proposed allowing workers with accrued time to take paid vacation and placing those without accrued time in alternative positions. Union president Christopher Henry told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday that the proposal violated their collective bargaining agreement. 

The union says more than 600 people are affected by the move; the company said the number is actually 480. Henry has called the layoffs “unlawful.”

ArcelorMittal said it is providing some financial assistance to employees.

ArcelorMittal idled the Point Lisas facility in November due to the global glut of steel and weak orders for its direct reduced iron (DRI). Point Lisas is a DRI-fed mini-mill that primarily makes billets and coiled wire rod.  

“The global steel industry is experiencing its worst recession in 10 years, comparable to that experienced in the early ‘90s. Every steel company in the world is facing this difficult reality and ArcelorMittal Point Lisas has had no choice but to react to these changes in the industry,” the company said in a statement.