Le 5 juin 2024 s’est tenue la troisième réunion du « Comité de suivi des investissements et des effectifs » de l’accord tripartite sidérurgique LUX 2025, en présence du ministre de l’Économie, Lex Delles, et du ministre du Travail, Georges Mischo, ainsi que des syndicats et de la direction d’ArcelorMittal. Cette réunion a permis de faire le point sur l’état d’avancement des projets retenus dans l’accord signé en janvier 2021.

En tant que syndicat majoritaire dans le secteur de la sidérurgie, l’OGBL a évidemment aussi participé à cette réunion qui est venue confirmer que les engagements d’ArcelorMittal envers les salariés et les pouvoirs publics sont actuellement presque intégralement respectés. Cet accord illustre la robustesse du dialogue social luxembourgeois, qui a permis au secteur de la sidérurgie de surmonter de nombreux défis depuis la fin des années 1970 sans pour autant pénaliser les salariés.

Le maintien de l’emploi avant tout !

ArcelorMittal compte actuellement un peu moins de 3 200 salariés au Luxembourg. Les réorganisations prévues par ArcelorMittal envisagent que d’ici fin 2025, les effectifs diminuent jusqu’à environ 3 000 salariés, contre 3 500 salariés encore en 2020. Ces chiffres concernent uniquement le périmètre sidérurgique (c’est-à-dire : les administrations, Belval, Differdange, Dommeldange et Rodange) et la tréfilerie de Bissen.

Tout en soulignant qu’il ne pourra jamais se satisfaire de suppressions de postes, l’OGBL souligne néanmoins que le recours à divers instruments comme les préretraites, la cellule de reclassement (CDR) et les réaffectations ont permis d’éviter un plan social.

Paradoxalement, malgré le sureffectif identifié par l’entreprise, ArcelorMittal est constamment à la recherche de nouveaux salariés en raison des réorganisations et des départs difficiles à remplacer, dans un contexte marqué par une pénurie de main-d’œuvre. Environ 700 salariés ont quitté l’entreprise en un peu plus de trois ans. Ces départs ne sont pas directement liés aux transformations prévues par l’accord. Cette situation inédite est très préoccupante pour l’OGBL, car elle impacte négativement les conditions de travail des salariés au Luxembourg et pose un certain nombre de problèmes au niveau de la transmission des savoirs.

ArcelorMittal maintient le cap au niveau des investissements

ArcelorMittal s’est engagé à investir entre 165 millions d’euros (engagement minimum) et 205 millions d’euros (engagement maximum) au cours des cinq années sur lesquelles porte l’accord (2021-2025). Au bout de trois ans, le seuil minimum a déjà été dépassé, et le niveau des investissements s’approche désormais du seuil maximum. À ce stade, l’OGBL constate donc que l’entreprise respecte ses engagements en matière d’investissements pour les sites du périmètre sidérurgique. Néanmoins, l’OGBL exprime des réserves concernant la tréfilerie de Bissen, où aucun investissement d’avenir n’a été réalisé à ce jour.

Des projets d’investissements supplémentaires (ne relevant pas de l’accord) ont également été présentés lors de la réunion : réduction des émissions diffuses à Differdange et modernisation de l’aciérie de Belval qui s’inscrivent dans les projets de décarbonisation du groupe.

L’avenir des activités d’ArcelorMittal au Luxembourg

L’OGBL continue de surveiller de très près le site de Dommeldange, afin de garantir la pérennité des emplois et la transmission du savoir-faire, tout en veillant au respect des garanties données par le groupe quant au maintien des activités STAF (souder, tourner, ajuster, fraiser). En amont de ce comité de suivi, la direction et les représentants du personnel ont décidé d’organiser une réunion spécialement dédiée à Dommeldange afin de faire un état des lieux de la situation et d’établir un plan d’actions. Ceci vient confirmer l’intention d’ArcelorMittal de vouloir valoriser et maintenir ces compétences au sein de la division « Long Products Luxembourg ».

Quant à Bissen, malgré les promesses et les belles annonces d’investissements, toutes les inquiétudes soulevées précédemment semblent malheureusement se concrétiser. Les investissements peinent en effet à arriver. La situation financière est préoccupante et inquiète les salariés autant que l’OGBL. Le seuil promis de 322 emplois maintenus à Bissen d’ici la fin 2025 n’est actuellement déjà plus respecté. Aujourd’hui, le site ne compte en effet déjà plus que 276 salariés. Le groupe demande par ailleurs davantage d’efforts et un « plan de redressement » qui ne sont pas prévus par l’accord existant. L’OGBL ne peut que constater que le site traverse actuellement une crise sans précédent et qu’une réaction est indispensable ! Face à ce constat, il a été retenu, lors de la réunion, de constituer dans les meilleurs délais un groupe de travail tripartite visant à mettre en place un avenant à l’accord LUX2025 afin de pérenniser le site de Bissen et les emplois qui en découlent. Dans ce contexte, une visite du site sera effectuée avec les ministres.

Concernant la construction du bâtiment au Kirchberg devant accueillir le nouveau siège de l’entreprise, les travaux devraient en principe s’achever dans les délais prévus.

Engagements presque intégralement tenus

Dans un contexte très incertain, marqué par des crises multiples, le groupe ArcelorMittal se porte plutôt bien et les activités au Luxembourg, à une exception près, contribuent activement à cette situation. Pour l’OGBL, ceci est rendu possible uniquement grâce aux salariés et au maintien d’un dialogue social de qualité. L’OGBL continuera à accompagner de près les réorganisations et les transformations, en veillant au respect des intérêts des salariés.

L’OGBL continuera également à revendiquer davantage d’investissements au Luxembourg, aussi bien au niveau de la santé et la sécurité des salariés, que dans les outils de production, ou bien encore au niveau du personnel accompagnant toutes ces évolutions.

Enfin, l’OGBL tient à remercier les ministres Lex Delles et Georges Mischo, ainsi que leurs équipes respectives, pour leur engagement et leur réactivité dans l’accompagnement de cet accord tripartite couvrant le secteur de la sidérurgie et la tréfilerie de Bissen.

Communiqué par le syndicat Sidérurgie et Mines de l’OGBL,
le 6 juin 2024

On November 17, 2023, the OGBL Steel and Mining organized a picket in front of the ArcelorMittal site in Differdange after four dismissals due to illness. For the OGBL, ArcelorMittal’s management has crossed a red line, and more than 150 employees and OGBL militants gathered to show their disagreement with this decision and to demand the reinstatement of the unfairly dismissed colleagues.

We must also point out that ArcelorMittal is not fulfilling its social dialogue obligations. The company did not even inform the OGBL delegates that it was planning to dismiss workers from the “Train Grey”, which employs about 300 of the almost 800 workers at the Differdange site. It was the employees who informed us. We know that the other syndicate was informed of the talks by the management, but not the OGBL. Is this to prevent our representatives from being informed and to keep us out? To prevent us from properly defending workers? Make up your own mind…

The OGBL denounces this hunt for the sick

In accordance with the tradition of the Luxembourg steel industry, the OGBL has always preferred the path of dialogue, seeking direct contact with the ArcelorMittal management in order to avoid redundancies and to reverse these decisions. Unfortunately, we were avoided or ignored. The few answers we received were not satisfactory: the redundancies would be limited to a single department and there would be no others. Nevertheless, these dismissals are fully approved and supported by the decision-makers. The company does not want to change its position and wants to let the courts do their work. That’s easy to say when you can afford the most expensive lawyers in the country.

The situation and the few answers we’ve received force us to act, as employee representatives and above all as steelworkers! We can’t just sit back and wait for the courts to decide the fate of our colleagues. For the majority of the dismissed, this was their first meeting and ArcelorMittal did not give them a chance. What’s more, our colleagues were not summoned during their sick leave, let alone after 6 months of sick leave, as some would have us believe. It was all very underhanded! It was either at the time of returning to work after a long illness or just after a short absence.

The OGBL denounces the hypocrisy of the ArcelorMittal group

We have also been told that ArcelorMittal justifies these dismissals by claiming that the workers are being dismissed to protect them from the steel industry! The world is upside down! ArcelorMittal seems to forget that behind these employees there are also families who are victims of a decision aimed solely at punishing sick workers. But what are the causes of these illnesses? Nobody wants to ask this question, except the OGBL.

ArcelorMittal’s management seems to forget that workers do not get sick for fun. Our colleagues would rather be healthy and able to work. They were monitored by the company’s occupational health department, and the pathologies and causes were well known. That is why the OGBL was surprised and shocked to see that ArcelorMittal was organizing pre-dismissal talks and, above all, that it was maintaining these dismissals after the facts had been revealed.

Work still makes you sick

For the OGBL, these employees are sick because their working conditions have made them sick! All too regularly, we point out the problems and demand solutions, workplace adjustments and investments. Unfortunately, our requests are too often denied or forgotten.

Just recently, managers ignored the plight of workers on overhead crane manipulators. Some even had to take sick leave! We also sent an open letter to ArcelorMittal management denouncing the unacceptable behavior of a manager. We asked the employer to take concrete measures to investigate and stop the excesses. What these two events have in common is that they took place at the “Train Grey” in Differdange, the same department to which our four dismissed colleagues belong! Where is the social responsibility of the company? Where is the respect for the commitments made by ArcelorMittal in the framework of the tripartite agreements?

We note that these dismissals have taken place in sectors that have long been understaffed! During preliminary interviews, management was never able to provide concrete examples of the impact of sick leave on absenteeism. There is no connection between the two. This doesn’t change the fact that sick leave is more indicative of understaffing in the sectors. And that is the snake that eats its own tail, because it leads to more sickness and more employee malaise.

ArcelorMittal employees are not doing well

Surveys show and confirm this. We know that many employees receive professional help. The OGBL had asked the company’s occupational medicine department a simple question: “Are ArcelorMittal employees well?” The answer was as clear as it was short: “NO”. Despite the fact that the answer was heard by management, we see no improvement.

ArcelorMittal’s management establishes “golden rules” that all employees must respect, such as “If I don’t feel well, I will stay at home, consult my doctor and follow his recommendations”, “In the event of restrictions or adjustments to the workplace, I will respect the recommendations of the occupational physician”, “Before work, I have had enough sleep, I am rested”. The employees in question followed these rules and were still punished and fired. Are these rules just there to absolve ArcelorMittal of any responsibility? Today we see that the rules are mainly used to punish employees.

Not long ago, we agreed with management to meet again to take stock and try to find common solutions to the increasing number of cases of illness. The issue is not taboo and needs to be analyzed in depth to determine the causes of these illnesses and how they relate to work. Today, we have no choice but to note that these dismissals are nullifying these commitments.

The hunt for the sick

We must also make the connection with other facts. ArcelorMittal has not digested the fact that the OGBL successfully blocked the introduction of sickness-related penalties in the last collective agreement. Moreover, ArcelorMittal’s management is constantly calling for the introduction of sick days in Luxembourg. Not paying sick workers will not prevent them from getting sick.

The will and the intentions are clear. ArcelorMittal attacks the patient, never the disease and even less the cause of the disease. For the OGBL, the intention is to set an example and create a climate of fear that forces employees to come to work sick for fear of being next. The human factor no longer counts, only the result.

All of this is taking place in a more than favorable context. ArcelorMittal is coming off two years of record profits in Luxembourg, and 2023 looks to be a very good year. The production stoppages are not caused by the workers. They are mainly due to unreliable equipment, logistical problems or lack of investment. Nevertheless, ArcelorMittal’s human resources department regularly analyzes absenteeism according to the “Bradford” factor. This is no longer a person who evaluates situations, but an inhuman mathematical formula. The company would do better to ensure that existing agreements are applied, that staffing levels are respected according to organizational charts, that departures are anticipated, and that coverage rates are adapted to changes in the law. We’re not even talking about hiring and training managers.

This picket is a first step, a warning to the ArcelorMittal group.

The OGBL Steel and Mining demands an end to this sickout, the reinstatement of the dismissed workers and, above all, the search for real solutions that will allow colleagues to continue working at ArcelorMittal.

The OGBL will continue to support the employees in all their efforts and will continue to support all those who have been subjected to aggression, intimidation or provocation. In this regard, we urge all employees to report any abuse, harassment and inappropriate remarks through the appropriate channels.

The OGBL Steel and Mining will continue to defend these positions and confront the Group’s decision-makers. More than ever, ArcelorMittal must face up to its responsibilities. A company that employs more than 3,000 people in Luxembourg has the size and the means to do better. It has a duty to help its employees. If the company does not change its attitude, we will be forced to continue our actions and bring them closer to the decision-makers.

The article was published in the December edition of Aktuell.

On December 4, a few days after the handover, the OGBL and LCGB unions and the staff delegation supported by the unions met with the Minister of Labor, Georges Mischo, and the Minister of the Economy, Lex DELLES, to take stock of the situation at the Liberty Dudelange site.

This meeting, requested by the unions, also follows the meeting organized by Liberty’s management on November 23 to ask the staff delegates and the OGBL and LCGB to start negotiations to set up a job protection plan (plan de maintien dans l’emploi – PME) to guarantee the payment of wages.

The scenario of default is becoming clearer. The situation continues to deteriorate. The company has informed the workers’ representatives that it can no longer guarantee the payment of wages for the coming months. The patience of the workers, the delegates and the unions has run out. For almost three years, words and promises without a future have created an omnipresent weariness on the site, which has become a ghost. The climate of uncertainty is creating an increasingly weakened atmosphere on the site.

The workers’ representatives also reiterated their request for support from the government, which had already been confirmed in the past by previous ministers. This support consisted of two essential points:

1. Support for employees to avoid a temporary loss of wages in the event of the bankruptcy of the Dudelange site under the Liberty banner.
2. The reactivation of a Plan B to evaluate and relaunch solutions for the takeover of activities and personnel by a new, serious industrial player.

Ministers Delles and Mischo, in the presence of the ministerial advisers who are closely following the dossier, confirmed to the staff representatives the intentions and commitments made towards the Dudelange employees and the government’s willingness to support the employees in the resumption of activities at the Dudelange site.

The ministers also announced that they would soon be meeting with Liberty’s management to take stock of the situation and assess the various prospects. For their part, the OGBL and the LCGB continue to judge Liberty’s attitude as extremely shabby. Liberty is slowly killing the Dudelange site and holding its employees hostage in order to obtain public aid without any concessions or compensation. The unions and the staff delegation have declared their loss of confidence in the Liberty Group, as they can no longer imagine a resumption of activities with this group.

The OGBL and LCGB thanked the two ministers and emphasized the support and guidance they have provided. If there is still a semblance of calm and social peace in Dudelange, it is also thanks to the public commitment and support.

Published December 7, 2023

We, the representatives of ArcelorMittal trade unions worldwide and IndustriALL Global Union, united in our commitment to workers’ rights and welfare, issue this statement in light of the urgent issues identified at our recent meeting.

The critical occupational health and safety (OHS) situation at ArcelorMittal requires immediate attention. The company’s focus on the bottom line at the expense of the safety and well-being of its workers is not only unacceptable, it poses a direct threat to the lives of those who contribute to its success. This is all the more striking given ArcelorMittal’s record profits and strong financial position.

In addition, management’s approach to unions on health and safety and broader social issues is deeply troubling. The lack of meaningful dialogue and consultation, despite the statement on the company’s website that “additional safety oversight is provided by the Global Health and Safety Committee (GHSC), which shares and promotes best practice and is chaired by the Corporate Health and Safety Officer”, has led to strained relations and calls for a fundamental change in ArcelorMittal’s approach to industrial relations.

The recent tragedy in Kazakhstan, which claimed 46 lives, has highlighted the need for unions to be involved in independent investigations. We demand that workers’ representatives be included in the commission investigating this disaster and in any discussions about the transfer of operations.

In Ukraine, workers face enormous stress and uncertainty as a result of the ongoing war. PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih’s refusal to extend the collective agreement during martial law and for another six months after its expiry, and the management’s decision to extend the agreement only on the condition that changes are made that significantly worsen the situation of the workers, is a form of collective blackmail that we strongly condemn. We express our unwavering support and solidarity with the Ukrainian workers at this difficult time. We call on ArcelorMittal to extend the collective agreement at PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih during the period of martial law and for six months after the end of the war.

We support the actions organized in Bosnia-Herzegovina on November 20, in Italy on November 23 and in the Czech Republic on November 27. These demonstrations of solidarity are essential to express our collective concerns and advocate for change.

Investment in decarbonization is another area where ArcelorMittal needs to significantly step up its efforts. The company’s current investment strategies do not adequately address the urgent need for sustainable and responsible operations. Furthermore, we insist that any public support given to ArcelorMittal be conditional on the company’s adherence to strict standards on employment, working conditions, training, social dialogue and health and safety at work. Public funds must support companies that are committed to responsible and ethical business practices.

We call on governments and international institutions to ensure that public support, particularly for decarbonization efforts, is conditional on maintaining and improving social conditions. The transition to a greener economy must not be at the expense of workers’ rights and welfare.

We also insist on the need for immediate action to guarantee the safety of workers in all their operations, particularly in South Africa and Italy, as well as protection for workers facing terrible conditions (extreme heat) and anti-union practices in Brazil. These are non-negotiable aspects of workers’ welfare.

Given the seriousness of the situation, we feel compelled to take action. We plan to take action against ArcelorMittal to hold the company accountable and to press for significant improvements in the working conditions and rights of its workers worldwide. We will work together to defend the dignity, safety and fair treatment of all ArcelorMittal workers.

In addition, we will evaluate our participation in the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) in light of the responses and actions taken by ArcelorMittal management. Our continued participation will depend on the company’s commitment to genuinely address the concerns raised and implement the necessary changes.

This statement is a call to action to ArcelorMittal. We demand tangible change and a commitment to the safety, rights and dignity of all workers in its global operations. Our collective voice will continue to defend these fundamental principles until they are fully implemented and respected.

Issued by the OGBL Steel and Mining Syndicate,
December 1, 2023

On October 10th, the OGBL staff delegation of Liberty Dudelange welcomed a delegation of FGTB metal Liège-Luxembourg and SETCa staff representatives from the Liberty sites in Liège. The meeting in Dudelange was an opportunity to take stock of the situation at the sites in both countries.

The Luxembourg and Belgian sites have been closely linked economically for many years. The same goes for the cooperation between our unions. This meeting was an opportunity to meet again and exchange the latest information on the different sites. Workers in both countries share the same concerns and are waiting for concrete answers.

At the end of the meeting and the subsequent site visit, the Liège colleagues thanked the OGBL delegation and invited them to visit Liège in the near future.

Press release of the OGBL union Sidérurgie et Mines,
October 12, 2023