Arcelor Mittal Steel Galati Readies For Further Voluntary Severance

F.A.
Ziarul BURSA #English Section / 12 iunie 2007

The management of the Galati-based steel works Arcelor Mittal Steel is preparing for a new wave of voluntary layoffs. At least one thousand workers are interested in being fired in order to receive the severance offered by the management. Depending on the length of their service with the company, leaving workers will receive a lump sum of 16,000 or 18,000 or 20,000 RON plus the equivalent of their last salary for 6, 9 or 12 months.

"Very many people want to leave the steel works," said Emil Mihaila, Vice President of the Steel Union Federation. Contacted by phone, Mittal Steel Galati Spokesman Dorian Dumitrescu declined comment on the information about the voluntary layoffs. This would be the sixth wave of voluntary layoffs in the history of the steel works. The latest one took place in July 2006, when 1,500 workers chose to leave their jobs.

Mittal Steel Galati currently has some 14,500 employees, which is half as much they did in the fall of 2001, when the steel works was acquired by the Anglo-Indian group. Considering that one of the clauses of the privatization contract prevented the new owners from firing workers for five years after the acquisition, the management decided to offer financial compensation to the workers who would voluntarily leave the company.

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