As hundreds of Liberty Steel workers in Dudelange are growing increasingly restless after two years of standstill and deadlocked negotiations, trade unions reiterate their call for urgent action to resolve the situation.

The ongoing crisis at the Liberty Steel works in Dudelange shows no signs of improvement. The approximately 150 people still working at the site have still not received their October salaries, while the next payment is due in the next few days.

Stefano Araujo, speaking on behalf of the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL), stated that the company has yet to inform trade unions whether it even still has the means to pay employees and, if so, at which point it plans to do so.

Araujo warned that tensions within the company are growing. Production has been shut down for the past two years and staff members only go to the factory to maintain the site and keep an eye on the machines.

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The trade unionist pointed out that the production shutdown was not caused by a lack of interest in Liberty Steel's products, but by the fact that the company could no longer afford to purchase raw materials. Araujo stressed that "there is an urgent need for change."

One of the main demands of the OGBL is that Liberty Steel should sell the site. The trade union maintains that there are interested buyers, but "Liberty [Steel] is blocking everything."

Representatives of the OGBL and the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB) recently met with Minister of Labour Georges Mischo to discuss the situation. Mischo assured the unions that his ministry will do everything in its power to support the affected workers, according to the OGBL.

Araujo noted that this assurance is important for the trade unions, "because in the situation we currently find ourselves in, i.e., on the verge of bankruptcy, we need the support of the Ministry."

He added that the trade unions have also initiated legal proceedings against Liberty Steel to force them to pay the salaries of their workers but acknowledged that this "may take some time."