Trade unions criticize Liberty Steel for irresponsible asset management in Europe

IndustriAll Europe and IndustriAll Global, the trade unions representing workers in the mining, energy and manufacturing 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 message IndustriAll

After the online meeting, they emphasized that the group’s assets in Europe are experiencing the worst crisis. In addition, European steelmaking facilities may be severely damaged, and the problem of green steel production will remain unresolved.

«As several blast furnaces are idle, production capacity is at an extremely low level – at some plants it is less than 1%,» the statement said.

The trade unions also noted that more than 20,000 steelworkers in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy and Hungary are either at home without work or waiting for further action.

Organizations representing steelworkers consider the situation at Liberty Ostrava in the Czech Republic to be catastrophic. According to them, in addition to the 6,000 workers who are waiting to hear whether and when production will resume, 30,000 indirect jobs and 117 subcontractors are at risk.

The unions called on GFG to ensure full transparency of its consolidated finances. They also demanded that the European Commission set up a crisis working group on GFG Alliance/Liberty Steel. At the same time, national governments should put forward social conditions and commitments to implement industrial plans when providing state funding to Sanjeev Gupta’s alliance.

At the same time, according to the Financial Times, GFG said that the statement of the trade unions 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 more than 20% of primary steel production on the continent being suspended,» the company said.

The group also said that it has a «robust restructuring plan» for Liberty Ostrava that shows an «achievable path to return to profitability and repayment of debt to creditors.»

GFG also added that despite these market challenges, Liberty continued to ensure that its employees were paid on time and that the plants were safely maintained, even if they were not fully operational.

As GMK Center reported earlier, at the end of January, the Czech government reminded of the legal consequences of the situation with Liberty Ostrava. The Minister of Industry and Trade urged Liberty Steel to save the steel mill. The official also warned of possible legal consequences for breaching the company’s management responsibilities, including financial liability in the event of bankruptcy.

  • Companies

Thyssenkrupp will continue construction of a green steel plant

Thyssenkrupp is sticking to its plans to build a €3.5 billion green steel plant in…

Monday June 23, 2025
  • Global Market

Iron ore prices have been fluctuating within a narrow range since early June

As of June 20, 2025, September iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE)…

Monday June 23, 2025
  • Industry

The UK will reduce electricity costs for industry

The UK will reduce green taxes for thousands of businesses to lower high energy costs…

Monday June 23, 2025
  • Companies

ArcelorMittal is investing €53 million in the modernization of blast furnace No. 1 in Fos-sur-Mer

Global mining and steel company ArcelorMittal has begun a large-scale modernization of blast furnace No.…

Monday June 23, 2025
  • Global Market

Malaysia extends duties on cold-rolled steel from China and Japan for another five years

Malaysia has decided to extend anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled coils (CRC) wider than…

Monday June 23, 2025
  • Companies

POSCO accelerates sale of non-core businesses in China and Vietnam

South Korea's POSCO is accelerating the restructuring of its non-core overseas subsidiaries, continuing the sale…

Monday June 23, 2025