ArcelorMittal Galati, the subsidiary of the world's biggest steel producer, decided to send home in technical unemployment all its 12,500 steel workers beginning with April 1, due to the extremely low production, announced today the trade union leaders.
The
employees will be divided into six groups and each group will stay home
for ten days at a time, for the next three months. They will receive 75
percent of their salaries and their bonuses for length of service, as
the other rights stipulated in the collective working contract are to
be annulled.
The
trade union leader Gheorghe Tiber explained that the plant's management
does not overrule the possibility of the three-month unemployment being
followed by a mandatory ten-day leave out of the vacation corresponding
to 2010, unless production recoups.
ArcelorMittal
Galati predicts a maximum production of 1.5 million tons of steel for
2009. As to the 2010-2012 interval, estimates indicate an annual 3
million tons production, a massive reduction when considering the 4.4
million tons of liquid steel that were produced in 2007.
Trade
union leaders are against the measures proposed by the management and
asked to see the plant's financial reports. They will propose several
alternative measures such as redistributing employees in other
departments. If these suggestions are rejected at the March 16 meeting,
they will ask to receive also meal tickets besides the other bonuses.
If an agreement cannot be reached, leaders warn they will call a
protest by March 20.
Since
the economic crisis set in last autumn, the steel demand dropped,
dragging behind it the halt of activity in steel-producing plants. The
ArcelorMittal Galati management diminished production gradually,
temporarily closed units, did away with subcontractors and reduced the
number of employees. It also opened a voluntary leave plan at the end
of last year, which is hopes to reduce the staff by 3,600 people by
2012. In addition, an activity restructuring program will be
implemented addressing all sectors and aiming to reduce costs, losses
and work-related accidents and to increase productivity.
ArcelorMittal
is the largest steel producer in the world, employing 330,000 people in
over 60 countries. In Romania, it controls the chemical plants in
Hunedoara and Galati, the pipe producing units in Iasi and Roman, the
harbor operator Romportmet Galati and the local arm of the construction
company ArcelorMittal Construction.
