The ArcelorMittal plant occupied Florange
Responding to the call of an Inter CFDT-CGT-FO-CFE/CGC, workers came on Monday morning in the large office of the factory, the cry of "Mittal, we want to work". Workers entered the "big offices" of the ArcelorMittal plant Florange Monday, February 20, 2012
Between 100 and 200 steelworkers have invested to 8:00 Monday in quiet premises of the factory management ArcelorMittal Florange (Moselle), said a journalist from AFP. Responding to the call of an Inter CFDT-CGT-FO-CFE/CGC, workers, mostly helmets, entered the "big offices" of the factory, shouting "Mittal, we want to work ". Arrived on the upper floors deserted by senior management and executives, they quickly made their flags and their richly colored jumpers in the great hall of the steering committee of the institution.
"Today, Florange is ours, Florange is yours," he told a trade unionist to the cheers of his comrades. "As of right now, management is technically unemployed. We will remain in these offices as the blast furnaces of the plant will not restart," added the head of the CFDT, Edward Martin. "Today, we are masters on board," he said before a forest of microphones and cameras. "That candidates (President of the Republic, ed) who claim to love plants undertake to ensure the survival of the site," he said, promising "at least one action a week until May 6" date of the second round of the presidential election.
"The state has saved the Lejaby. Must intervene for us," said the official FO, Walter Broccoli. "If Mittal wants more Florange, let him go … But there is no way to dismantle the plant. We will not let him do it, "continued, looking very determined, trade unionist. Around 10:00, the protesters were comfortably installed in the administrative site where Moselle boiled coffee makers and where they concocted sandwiches. On sunny square, union officials chained interviews to television channels, one of which, NHK, had sent a team from Japan. By late morning, tents began to be erected on the lawns of the plant to "formalize" the occupation, said John Mangin, head of the CGT. "This will be the village of resistance where workers can come and talk, talk about their fight and defend their work tools," he added.
This occupation is the first step of "nightmare" promised by unions to the government after management of ArcelorMitall announced last week that the two blast furnaces would restart the site does not in the second quarter. For unions, this decision would announce the "programmed death site" which employs some 5,000 people, including 3,000 permanent contracts. ArcelorMittal, which has recently decided the final closure of blast furnaces in Liege (Belgium) and Madrid, on the contrary that Lorraine ensures it is only a temporary standby necessary due to insufficient demand.