ArcelorMittal Workers Clash With Police In Belgium
Baku, January 30 (AZERTAC). ArcelorMittal (MT) workers in Belgium clashed with police during a protest against the closure of another part of the company's steel plant in Liege.
Ten policemen were injured after confronting about 1,500 protesters demonstrating in front of regional government offices in the Namur, the capital of the Wallonian province where Liege is located, a spokesman for the Namur police told Dow Jones Newswires on a call.
Protesters threw stones and other items at the police who retaliated by using water canons, the spokesman said. No tear gas was fired, he added.
The demonstrators were calling on the Wallonian government to prevent the partial closure of the plant which has put 1,300 jobs at risk. One policeman was injured and taken to hospital but has since been released, the police spokesman said. The other policemen were only slightly injured, he added. He wasn't able to say whether any protesters were injured but noted that the protest has ended after the workers decided to return to Liege.
Last week ArcelorMittal announced plans to shut a coke plant and six finishing lines at Liege due to continued weak demand for its steel products. This follows an October 2011 announcement in which the company said it would permanently close Liege's two blast furnaces. ArcelorMittal will still operate five finishing lines at the plant that are deemed to be strategically important for the company.
The company blamed a collapse in steel demand for the need for further closures at the plant.
"ArcelorMittal regrets any injuries that have been sustained in today's demonstration," a company spokesman said. "We recognize that our recent announcement concerning Liege is difficult for many of our stakeholders but we cannot support violence. We are committed to working with our employees to find a socially acceptable solution for all those affected," he added.
The Wallonian government, the Belgian Federal government and representatives from ArcelorMittal's workforce said last week that they were opposed to the closure and would seek to find a buyer that would keep some of the plant operational.
The protesters want the regional government to intervene.
"Enough of promises, we want results. We want them (the Walloon region) to take over our plant," ArcelorMittal worker Marc Detrier said of the Walloon regional government.
"We have to get rid of Mittal. He has to leave the group," Detrier said of ArcelorMittal chairman, Lakshmi Mittal.
Belgium's Prime Minister, Elio Di Rupo, held talks with Mittal at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week on the matter but with little success.
"I want to tell the workers that I understand their revolt and worry when faced with the future," Di Rupo said.
However it is unlikely that Di Rupo would consider nationalizing the steel plant; opting instead for helping out areas hit by industrial decline by investing in rebuilding the area and new technology.
In the past, he said, "we were able to help certain industries by investing in innovative products."
ArcelorMittal was involved in a similar controversy in France late last year when it revealed plans to close two blast furnaces at its plant in Florange, northern France.
France's industry minister, Arnaud Montebourg, threatened to nationalize the plant — and resign amid public criticism from Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who described the idea as "inefficient."
In the end, following talks between Mittal and President Francois Hollande, a deal was agreed where slightly fewer jobs were cut and more was invested in the plant.
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