They demand that the European Commission creates a crisis working group on GFG Alliance/Liberty
IndustriAll Europe and IndustriAll Global, the unions representing workers in the mining, energy and industrial sectors in Europe and around the world, have called for an end to the “irresponsible management” of British Liberty Steel and its parent company GFG Alliance. This is stated in the IndustriAll message
After the online meeting, they highlighted that the group's assets in Europe are experiencing the worst crisis. Furthermore, European steel plants could be seriously damaged and the problem of green steel production will remain unsolved.
«As several blast furnaces are idle, production capacity is at an extremely low level – in some factories it is less than 1%», says the statement.
Unions also noted that more than 20,000 steel workers in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy and Hungary are at home without work or waiting for new measures.
Organizations representing steel workers consider the situation in Liberty Ostrava, in the Czech Republic, to be catastrophic. According to them, in addition to the 6,000 workers waiting to find out if and when production will resume, 30,000 indirect jobs and 117 subcontractors are at risk.
The unions called on the GFG to ensure full transparency of its consolidated finances. They also demanded that the European Commission create a crisis working group on the GFG Alliance/Liberty Steel. At the same time, national governments must present conditions and social commitments to implement industrial plans by providing state financing to Sanjeev Gupta's alliance.
At the same time, according to Ao Financial Times, GFG said the unions' statement was false and misleading.
"Like all European steelmakers, Liberty's operations have been affected by high energy prices, high inflation and high imports, which have resulted in the suspension of more than 20% of primary steel production on the continent," the company said.
The group also said it has a “robust restructuring plan” for Liberty Ostrava that shows a “viable path to return to profitability and debt repayment to creditors”.
GFG further added that despite these market challenges, Liberty continued to ensure that its employees were paid on time and that factories were kept safe, even if they were not fully operational.
As the GMK Center previously reported, at the end of January, the Czech government recalled the legal consequences of the situation with Liberty Ostrava. The Minister of Industry and Commerce urged Liberty Steel to save the steel plant. The official also warned of the possible legal consequences of failing to fulfill the company's management responsibilities, including financial liability in the event of bankruptcy.
