More than 2,000 steelworkers militantly protested layoffs and pay cuts during an annual shareholders meeting at ArcelorMittal’s headquarters in Luxembourg on May 12.
The workers, who rode in on busses all the way from France and Belgium, were demanding to speak with a representative of the world’s largest steel producer. But a company official never came down to speak with them. Instead, the steelworkers were met by riot police who fired rubber bullets into the crowd.
In November 2008, ArcelorMittal announced that they would be cutting 9,000 jobs globally, including 6,000 in Europe. They have shut down 25 furnaces in Europe, leaving only nine in operation. They have also frozen salaries and walked out of talks with the union over when plants would reopen.
Due to the recession, the demand for steel has decreased all over the world. In response, the company has laid off workers, closed factories and pushed its workforce to accept pay cuts.
