On Wednesday 20 April, during a meeting between unions LCGB and OGBL, and the management of the Liberty Steel Dudelange, the steelmaker assured “without hesitation” that workers wages for April will be paid. The total monthly salary of all the staff at the site is around €1m.

Since there has been concern about the future of the factory in Dudelange, especially since production has almost come to a halt.

In December 2020, Liberty Steel Dudelange took a loan guaranteed at 80% by the state in the framework of covid-19 aid for the sum of €17m. According to information obtained by Delano's sister publication Paperjam, the money was used for salaries, supplies and the purchase of raw materials. The steelmaker's still owes between €15m and €17m to Luxembourg.

The liquidation of the Liège sites spells trouble for Liberty Steel’s Luxembourg plant in Dudelange. The two steel production sites are partnered and Dudelange operates with material furnished from Liège.

In April, the Dudelange plant did not produce anything and the unions fear that the same thing will happen next month.

Government ready to react

According to union sources, the Dudelange management is studying a short-term business plan that envisions a partial supply scheme from Liberty Steel's sites in Skopje (Northern Macedonia) and Piombino (Italy). These solutions will not be profitable according to the unions, who are concerned about workers getting their wages in May and June.

The steelmaker is also working on other parallel solutions to supply Dudelange and is also hoping for a possible resumption of activity at the Liège sites, which could be ordered by the three receivers, tasked with selling company assets on behalf of lenders.

Economy minister Franz Fayot (LSAP) and labour minister Georges Engel (LSAP) reassured the unions at a recent meeting by indicating that they were prepared to implement the tools available under Luxembourg law to support employees in the event of bankruptcy.

Concerning the possibility of a solution with one or more buyers, the government did not give details, but confirmed that it was “ready and able to react in due course”.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.