The steelmaking giant’s workers, many of whom were wearing respirators, threw stones at dozens of riot police in the southern city of Namur on Tuesday, sparking the provocation, as unions mark the last day of five consecutive days of strikes.
The protest comes in retaliation to the company’s Thursday announcement of plans to close a coke plant and six production lines that would lead to the loss of 1,300 jobs in a plant in the eastern region of Liege.
Workers urge the government and the company’s management to reconsider the closure, which they call “a social tragedy.”
“ArcelorMittal has killed us all. What can we do? They have dug our grave. And now, we are lying it,” said an ArcelorMittal employee.
According to officials, the company has made the decision due to the weak European demand for steel in the persistent eurozone debt-crisis and cheaper steel production facilities in other countries.
The steel giant posted over 200 million euros in losses in the first three quarters of 2012 and has forecasted major setbacks in the market this year.
The Liege plant was a main steel hub in the 1970s with over 30,000 steel workers that shrank to some 5,000 in 2005. Union officials say after the plans no more than 500 jobs will remain in the division.
GVN/PKH
Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/01/29/286209/belgian-steelworkers-clash-with-police/
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