Accord on Collective Bargaining Agreement for Luxembourg Steelworkers The management of ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg and representatives of the OGBL and LCGB have reached an agreement on the CBA for Steelworkers in Luxembourg, which will lead to an improvement in the purchasing power of employees. As part of the negotiations on the collective agreement, several meetings have been held between management and union representatives since the talks began in September 2022. A three-year agreement has been reached, focusing mainly on compensation, which the unions have identified as a priority issue. During the discussions, against the background of two consecutive years of good results for the company, which is grateful to its employees, several successive proposals on compensation were made by the parties. The aim of each proposal was to improve the purchasing power of the employees and to maintain the benefits of the collective agreement, while at the same time maintaining the company’s competitiveness in a highly unstable international environment. All of these proposals represent an improvement in compensation for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025. Management and union representatives are pleased with the quality of the social dialogue, which has been conducted in a spirit of progress and with the aim of maintaining the company’s competitiveness and attractiveness: “Together with the employees, we will be able to face the many challenges ahead to enable ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg to build its future with decarbonized, competitive and innovative steel”. Press release October 2, 2023
Meeting between OGBL Steel and the Inspectorate of Labor and Mines On July 7, a delegation from OGBL Steel and Mining Syndicate was received by the Director of the Inspectorate of Labor and Mines (ITM), Marco Boly, assisted by Claude Santini. The meeting, initiated by OGBL, provided an opportunity to take stock of the health and safety situation in the steel sector and related activities. Tragic work accidents in the sector at European and global level, as well as a number of recent events, are a cause for concern. In addition, the dual transition (digital and environmental) and the shortage of manpower are major challenges for the sector and the workers who depend on it. Against this backdrop, the meeting provided an opportunity to exchange best practices and experiences, and to review the day-to-day roles and responsibilities of the various players in the company. The work of the health and safety representatives is of paramount importance, as they represent the employees and defend their interests in terms of accident risk prevention. This position of OGBL is fully supported by ITM. OGBL Steel and Mining would like to thank ITM Director Marco Boly for this very constructive and positive exchange. The parties agreed to stay in touch and visit each other’s sites on a regular basis. Composition of the OGBL delegation Samuel FERRAI, President of OGBL Steel and Mining Syndicate and delegate for ArcelorMittal Differdange Xavier POULAIN, Vice-President of OGBL Steel and Mining Syndicate and delegate for ArcelorMittal Belval Abdelhamid HIMMICHE, ArcelorMittal Belval Safety Officer Miguel LOPES, ArcelorMittal Dommeldange representative Hubert LACOUTURE, Liberty Dudelange representative Stefano ARAUJO, OGBL Executive Board member Published on July 10, 2023
ArcelorMittal Centre Logistique Européen: New collective bargaining agreement signed On June 13, 2023, the OGBL and the LCGB signed a new collective bargaining agreement at ArcelorMittal Centre Logistique Européen (AMCLE). The 3-year agreement provides for substantial improvements in the purchasing power of the 120 employees working at the Haneboesch site. The new agreement includes the following changes continuation of all CBA benefits; the gradual introduction of meal vouchers for all staff at the worksite; improved safety and attendance bonuses; the introduction of a seniority gift. Press release June 13, 2023
The European industrial union family meets in Thessaloniki IndustriAll Europe’s mid-term conference was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, on May 31 and June 1, 2023, under the slogan “Power in a Union!”. It was the first major European gathering of trade union militants from industriAll Europe member organizations since the pandemic. Nearly 500 staff delegates from industrial trade unions in 34 countries took part. The OGBL, the only Luxembourg trade union present, was represented by Stefano Araujo, member of the Executive Board, Patrick Freichel, Central Secretary of the Metal Processing Syndicate. The conference gave delegates the opportunity to look back on two years of European trade union work since the 2021 Online Congress, and to discuss strategic priorities up to the next Congress in 2025: – For strong and sustainable industrial jobs in Europe – For fair wages and working conditions – For solidarity and peace in Europe Strong unions are the basis for defending workers’ interests and making their voices heard. Their participation in shaping industrial policy is essential to creating, transforming and maintaining quality jobs in industry. In a context of ecological and digital transition, the fight for decent jobs for all, the fight against precarious work in European industrial sectors and the guarantee of healthy and safe workplaces remain the priority of the trade union organizations present!
Shaping the future of Luxembourg’s industry At the request of the unions, the OGBL, which has a majority in the sector, the employers’ association FEDIL, the Minister for the Economy, Franz Fayot, and the Minister for Employment, Georges Engel, met to analyze the situation in the sector and to ensure that the right responses were given after the two redundancy plans announced in recent weeks. At the tripartite meeting, the employer and government representatives, as well as the OGBL, confirmed that there is no general crisis in the sector. Nevertheless, the OGBL remains cautious and wants to equip itself with the means to find immediate solutions to existing problems and to anticipate and face future challenges. Although the redundancy plans have now been withdrawn and the social dialogue re-established, it should be noted that these companies initially disregarded the workers’ representatives’ right to information and participation. This constitutes an offense of obstruction, which can be prosecuted. It should be noted that the actors present confirmed that these were anomalies for the country and that social dialogue and job protection were still the main objectives. Nevertheless, the OGBL will continue to denounce this situation and will not hesitate to take legal action. At the meeting, the OGBL gave a clear warning to the employers’ representatives on this issue and reiterated the importance of good social dialogue. Renewing and strengthening social dialogue Faced with an uncertain geopolitical context, aggravated by speculation on energy and raw material prices, a digital and ecological transition that is forcing itself upon us, and an aggressive industrial policy on the part of the Americans, it is obviously essential to act in favor of a coordinated industrial policy. The OGBL calls for inspiration from the American model, which supports industry in its energy transition and aims to reindustrialize the country by focusing on the development and creation of well-paid union jobs. All of this is only possible if workers’ voices are heard and workers’ representatives are actively involved in the changes. In this context, the participants called for and supported the strengthening of the existing tripartite platforms for exchange between the social partners: Strengthening the role of the Comité de conjoncture, with special and regular attention to the sector in order to anticipate challenges; Convening a permanent committee on work and employment (Comité permanent de l’emploi et du travail – CPTE) to improve the law on the job protection plan (plan de maintien dans l’emploi – PME); Reactivating the role of the ADEM as a key player in the company monitoring committees set up to support the job protection plan (plan de maintien dans l’emploi – PME). Social responsibility of companies For the OGBL, an industry of the future is only possible if companies are given a sense of responsibility. In concrete terms, this means that aid, whether social (early retirement, short-time working, reimbursement of training costs, etc.) or public, must include social criteria with real quid pro quos and social commitments towards employees. The OGBL will not support blank checks for investors! Digital and ecological transitions will happen with us, not without us!
The labor shortage in industry must not be used to undermine working conditions and pay While the reduction of working hours is now a necessity throughout the world, the employers’ representatives of Luxembourg industry (FEDIL) have just announced that they are demanding, among other things, precisely the opposite, namely an increase in working hours – a measure presented by FEDIL as the main solution to the problem of labor shortages in the sector. The OGBL industry syndicates would like to denounce this lame shortcut of blaming employees or even the government, while completely ignoring their own failings. Anyone who follows the international news discovers every day the results of another country that publishes the effects produced on its territory by a reduction in working time with salary maintenance. Everywhere, the results are the same: an improvement in employees’ personal balance and the maintenance or even an increase in the productivity of companies. The OGBL’s position is thus confirmed: satisfied employees who are able to better reconcile their private and professional lives are beneficial to companies, which thus become more productive and therefore more profitable! Employees in industry are not suffering, they are suffering badly! In Luxembourg, some FEDIL members do not want to question themselves and identify the real reasons for the difficulties that some companies have in recruiting or retaining employees? Whose fault is it? For FEDIL, it is the employees who do not work enough, the sick who pretend being sick, the laws and collective agreements that protect the employees and prevent employers from doing as they please. Living to work or working to live? To want to increase the “effective” working time is in itself an insult! For the OGBL, there is only one working time, that during which the employee is at the disposal of the employer without being able to freely do his or her personal business. To raise doubts on this notion, by inserting the term “effective”, has the sole aim of concealing an employer’s demand to increase working time beyond the legal provisions currently in force or, worse, to call into question existing reductions in working time, negotiated in the framework of collective agreements. This includes extra-legal leave, reduced working hours (yes, these already exist) or paid breaks. Some less well-intentioned people might even see this as a desire by FEDIL to put an end to pee- and coffee-breaks, dressing or shower. These demands seem all the more inappropriate as FEDIL seems to forget that workers in the industry work in continuous-fire and/or shift regimes with atypical working hours and often with flexibility in working time. The FEDIL, with unbounded greed, demands more flexibility, without control, forgetting to point out that thanks to collective agreements, many companies in the sector already have a flexibility that takes into account the rights of employees, since it has been negotiated collectively. This raises the question of whether the reality experienced by company managers is really the same as that of companies and employees on the ground? Or is it simply a new attempt to reclassify overtime and thus no longer have to respect the authorised limits and, above all, to avoid paying or compensating overtime at its fair value? Work makes you sick Sick hunting seems to be a favourite pastime for companies, given the repeated demands from the federations for more means of controlling certificates and reducing wages in the event of illness. The OGBL defends the provisions protecting sick employees and wonders rather about the causes of illnesses? Could it be that the illnesses are caused by the fact that many companies are understaffed as a result of yet another reorganisation or restructuring? Or is it due to the increasing intensity of work and the demand of companies to do more with less? The FEDIL forgets that work also makes you sick, both physically and mentally, especially when you have to deal with toxic management and work schedules that are not respected. Labor shortage goes hand in hand with lack of attractiveness Many companies believe that the labor shortage is due to the fact that people “don’t want to work anymore”. However, one only has to look at the unemployment figures in Luxembourg and beyond our borders to dispute this assertion. Nor is it the government that will allow industry to stand out from other sectors in the country through one measure or another. Companies in the industry need to take responsibility and ask themselves the right questions: why are they having trouble recruiting and retaining employees? Are these industry professions still attractive? For the OGBL, the answers and solutions are relatively simple: better working conditions, better pay and real career prospects. And this is only possible through collective bargaining. Companies will never do it voluntarily. The European institutions have confirmed this view by asking the Member States – and Luxembourg is also targeted here – to extend the coverage of collective agreements. Across the Atlantic, the Biden administration is making the maintenance and creation of well-paid union jobs a key element of its recovery plan for the USA. The OGBL is convinced that it is not by dismantling the Labor Code and collective agreements that industry will become more attractive and attract “talent”. On the contrary! Press release by the OGBL Industry Syndicates, 17 March 2023