Employees at the Ampacet Luxembourg production plant began their strike early on Monday morning, calling for an improved collective labour agreement after month-long negotiations bore no fruit.
"The employer here is simply saying 'I no longer want the collective agreement', and is pushing on with this stance, which is why we have been forced to respond so harshly," said Nora Back, president of the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL), who was present at the demonstration outside the American-owned company headquarters in Dudelange on Monday. Protesters blocked the entrance to the site and halted all production of the business' plastic pellets.
Back expressed her pride at the demonstrators, saying "the entire work process has been paralysed, every employee has gone on strike. There were no strikebreakers. The production line is currently at a standstill, we will see how long management can last." On this occasion, it was the company, rather than the union, requesting a conciliation procedure.
The strike was initially announced by the OGBL last Thursday, and saw between 30 and 40 people gather outside the Ampacet site at 6am on Monday morning. "Our goal is not to strike for the sake of it, but to obtain a result, and we will stay here until the company makes a move," the trade union confirmed.
Negotiations on a new collective agreement for around 65 employees at Ampacet are currently at a standstill, according to an OGBL press release. The conflict has been brewing since the spring, with management proposing a salary increase of 0.3%, compared to the 2.5% increase demanded by the union. The collective agreement was ultimately terminated over the summer, with no agreement reached since then.
"Attack on Luxembourg's social model," say the Left
Political party Déi Lénk (the Left) published a press release on Monday morning in support of the Ampacet employees on strike, calling the broken collective agreement "an attack on the Luxembourg social model, which risks creating a harmful precedent for all employees covered by a collective labour agreement".
The party said they stood in solidarity with the striking staff, and added that they were striking "on behalf of all the employees in the country". "Strengthening the legal basis of collective agreements is more vital than ever to protect staff from employer abuse," the press release continued.
A full employee strike is relatively unusual in Luxembourg; however, it is the second time this has happened in two months, following the Cargolux strike in September.
