Approx 2,700 ArcelorMittal Galati Workers File For Voluntary Layoffs

Also, ArcelorMittal Galati already accepted the layoff requests of other 1,100 employees, according to Adrian Adascalitei, the president of the company’s Steelworkers Trade Union.

 

"We do not have any official data for the moment, but as much as we know, around 2,700 employees were registered, while 1,100 of them already received the acceptance to leave the company, from around one thousand March 1," Adascalitei said.

 

The voluntary-layoffs request list is opened until March 31.

 

ArcelorMittal Galati currently employs approximately 12,000 people, half compared with the fall of 2001, when the plant was privatized. Due to a privatization clause banning layoffs for five years, the company offered financial compensation to employees willing to leave.

 

ArcelorMittal Galati said last week it will send all its 12,000 employees on technical unemployment by rotation, including the Board of Directors members, for a ten-10 period each, on the backdrop of lower demand for steel products.

 

ArcelorMittal (MT), the world’s largest steelmaker, announced early November it will cut production by at least 30% in the last months of the year, due to the international financial crisis, which triggered a slump in demand.

 

The group owns four steel plants in Romania, in Galati, Iasi, Hunedoara and Roman, harbor operator Romportmet Galati and the local unit of construction company ArcelorMittal Construction.