After years of uncertainty, workers at Liberty Steel in Dudelange now confront a harsh reality: their last hope for a buyer has vanished, leaving them without a clear future.
The prospect of a buyer taking over the Liberty Steel site in Dudelange grows dimmer with each passing day, leaving abandoned employees with no choice but to seek new opportunities.
The final blow came in early May when Turkish steel producer Tosyali Holding withdrew from negotiations to acquire the plant. Jean-Luc de Matteis of the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL) called the development a "social catastrophe" for the workforce. With the takeover bid collapsing, 130–140 employees must now reorient their careers.
The Dudelange site has been idle for years, and Liberty Steel has been insolvent since late November 2024. The failed takeover is a bitter disappointment for workers who had clung to hope. Hubert Lacouture, a former OGBL personnel representative who spent nearly three decades at Liberty Steel, expressed deep sadness over the situation. He noted that employees had placed their trust in Tosyali Holding, only to endure over two months of uncertainty before the company walked away. Now, Lacouture lamented, workers are left with "no jobs and no future".
Unions no longer believe a swift rescue for the site is possible. Matteis emphasised that finding a new buyer could take months – time that workers, after years of instability, can no longer afford. The priority now is securing new employment for the staff. To that end, the OGBL is collaborating with the Ministry of Labour and the National Employment Agency (ADEM) to organise a job fair for the affected workers.
Turkish steel producer Tosyali Holding withdrew its takeover bid due to EU protection measures restricting imports from third countries. The company had planned to supply the Dudelange plant with steel from its facilities in Turkey and Algeria, but the trade barriers rendered the site unprofitable.
Robert Fornieri, deputy secretary general of the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB), called the situation a "real disaster and a political failure on both national and European levels". He criticised Luxembourg's inability to influence what he deemed "totally inadequate" regulations, arguing that EU policies failed to account for exceptional cases like Liberty Steel.
Fornieri urged the EU to reassess its approach and correct course in the future. Meanwhile, the fate of the Dudelange site hangs in the balance. A court-appointed trustee now has three months to find a new buyer willing to revive the plant and resume production.
