At the Liberty Steel plant in Dudelange, 50% of the staff are currently on leave and 50% are on site but not producing anything.  (Photo: Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne/Archives)

At the Liberty Steel plant in Dudelange, 50% of the staff are currently on leave and 50% are on site but not producing anything.  (Photo: Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne/Archives)

Still at a standstill and in the face of a lack of industrial strategy for the steel group in Luxembourg, the Liberty Steel site in Dudelange is beginning to cause real concern for employees, trade unions and the minister of economy.

The Liberty Steel plant in Dudelange has been shut down since last September,. Or rather, it has been "mothballed" to allow the steelmaker to reorganise and put an industrial strategy in place after the many twists and turns within the GFG Alliance group owned by Sanjeev Gupta, which has been experiencing financial difficulties since

The unions are concerned that the factory will remain idle for too long and, above all, that there are no prospect for a return to work. The ministry of the economy is also concerned about "the conduct of business by Liberty Steel at intra-group level and on the Dudelange site, in the context of potentially abusive actions that seem to be opposed to the social interest of the Luxembourg company and even compromise its economic future". Behind the scenes, it is even claimed that there is no longer any dialogue between Liberty Steel and the ministry, and that the last letter from minister  has remained unanswered. The ministry is also said to be investigating whether Liberty Steel is abusing its property rights.

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On Monday 24 October, Fayot and minister for labour , received representatives of the LCGB and OGBL trade unions as well as the plant’s staff delegation to discuss the future of Liberty Steel in Dudelange. Fayot reaffirmed "the interest of an industrial player in taking over the Luxembourg site of Liberty Steel in order to maintain steel activities and preserve jobs".

50% of the staff exempted from work

A takeover by a local industrial player is also what the trade unions are hoping for, but for the moment Liberty Steel has not sent any signal that it is willing to sell. Especially since another steel player seems to be doing very well in Luxembourg. as part of an industrial strategy to decarbonise steel.

These announcements have given pause for thought to some of the workers at the Liberty Steel site who are beginning to lose interest in their work. "At present, 50% of the staff are at the site and 50% are on leave", says Robert Fornieri, deputy secretary general of the LCGB union, who fears a deterioration of the production tools in the medium term, or even a loss of know-how with employees who might consider leaving the company for another player with a future strategy.