Workers of NLMK Clabecq, a Belgium plant of the Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), have gone on strike in response to plans to lay off half of personnel under a restructuring program, a labor union representative reported.
“We announced a strike as a response to that, and it will be in force until 2.00 p.m. local time on January 21,” the representative said.
The plant employs 590 workers, of which up to 300 may be laid off.
Previously, local news daily Echo reported that the Russian managers of NLMK Clabecq said that the plant was uncompetitive given the existing structure of production. Television channel RTBF reported earlier that the plant loses 4 million euros each month.
An NLMK representative said that the management offered a plan to focus on products with high added value, like quenched and tempered steel sheets, and reduce production of commercial-quality rolled steel with thickness of more than 9 millimeters.
In Belgium, NLMK owns NLMK Clabecq with a capacity of 550,000 tons of rolled metal per year, and there is also a plant in La Louviere with a capacity of 1.7 million tons of hot-rolled metal and 600,000 tons of cold-rolled metal. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)