Luxembourg Government Surprised by ArcelorMittal Job Cuts
The Luxembourg Times reported that Luxembourg Labour Minister Mr Dan Kersch told lawmakers that ArcelorMittal announced major job cuts in the country without first talking to trade unions or the government, despite the group's historic and current ties with the Grand Duchy. Mr Kersch expressed disappointment that the company, one of whose predecessor companies stems from Luxembourg, had failed to give the government a heads-up, given that the country still owns a small stake in the company and gets to appoint a representative to its board. He said “Half of the 570 job cuts will take place through redundancy schemes, including early pensions. Yet the company is also set to recruit 123 new people, which a number of parliamentarians believe is a sign that the steel giant wants to restructure itself with state funds.”
A first round of talks between government, the company and unions took place on Monday, while more formal so-called tripartite negotiations between the three are expected to be announced on Wednesday.
ArcelorMittal, which employs 190,000 people around the world, is set to press ahead with 570 job cuts announced last Thursday out of a workforce of 3,611 in Luxembourg, as the pandemic hurts business.
Source : STRATEGIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE