The situation in the European steel sector is rapidly deteriorating, with terrible news emerging from both ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp Steel in the last few days. As the crisis worsens, European steel workers reiterate our demand for urgent action to save the European steel sector and tens of thousands of jobs.
Thyssenkrupp Steel has announced the loss of up to 11,000 jobs: with 5,000 job cuts and 6,000 jobs to be transferred, as well as the closure of their processing site in Kreuztal-Eichen (Germany).
ArcelorMittal has announced their decision to indefinitely delay all the planned green investments in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) production, blaming European policy – including policies on energy. Unions have reported announced closures of sites at Reims and Denain (France), with the loss of 136 jobs.
Upon hearing these announcements, Judith Kirton-Darling, industriAll Europe’s General Secretary stated: “To reach the decarbonisation targets set by 2030, investment decisions are urgently needed in steel sites across Europe. At the same time, the European steel sector is in a deep crisis as a result of lack of demand, massive global overcapacity linked to China, and falling prices. Across Europe, we are dealing with production cuts, mothballing, closures, and bankruptcies of steel sites across Europe every day. Steel is a strategic foundation industry – essential for our energy transition, industrial sovereignty and security. Steel jobs are highly skilled and decent jobs, and we must protect steelworkers.”
Recent OECD figures have confirmed that nearly 100,000 jobs have been lost since 2008/9 in the European steel industry. Urgent EU action is needed to save this strategic sector and tens of thousands of jobs currently at risk. At present, the steel industry provides 230,000 direct jobs and 2.3 million indirect jobs.
“We completely oppose European steel sites closing, only for cheap and dirty steel to be dumped on the open EU market with no respect to the environment or social standards. Equally, we oppose strategies from multinational companies that benefitted from various forms of state support and recorded high shareholder dividends now holding their workforces in limbo by delaying vital investment decisions. We insist that all support to industrial companies must be subject to mandatory social conditionalities,” added Judith Kirton-Darling.
Together with steel employers’ association, Eurofer, industriAll Europe has been campaigning for a European Steel Action Plan in the first 100 days of the new Commission’s term in office. Therefore, it was welcome to hear Commissioner-Designate Séjourné commit to working with European social partners on the EU Steel and Basic Metals Action Plan during his hearing in the European Parliament. But time is of the essence.
“The President of the European Commission has promised action to address the situation of the steel sector – an Action Plan on Steel and Basic Metals – a long-term demand of industriAll Europe. This must be drafted with steel workers at the table, and we need an ambitious action plan in the first 100 days of the European Commission. Every day of inaction is undermining our industrial sovereignty and costing us jobs and livelihoods.
“We insist that measures are taken to ensure that Europe does not lose any more industrial capacity and a moratorium on forced redundancies ahead of this action plan. Decarbonisation must not lead to deindustralisation and we need the EU to ensure a level playing field and a sustainable future for European steelworkers,” concluded Judith Kirton-Darling.