Protest of ArcelorMittal workers held in Zenica, new gathering scheduled for December 12

Workers of the ArcelorMittal factory in Zenica (AMZ), the largest regional producer of steel and iron, held a protest on December 11 in front of the administration building in Zenica.

The reason, as they stated, is that they do not have a collective agreement and that the company suspended production in November.

AMZ temporarily suspended production on November 11 due to, as the company's management stated at the time for RSE, poor conditions prevailing on the steel market.

As stated by AMZ, the reasons for the production halt are the decline in steel consumption on the European market, which has been ongoing since the second quarter of 2022 due to the conflict in Ukraine, an unprecedented rise in energy prices, production costs, and inflation.

The workers also began a strike on November 20, demanding a new collective agreement and a 25 percent increase in wages.

AMZ produces ribbed concrete steel, wire, meshes, and lattice girders. In addition to production in Zenica, it manages the largest regional iron ore mine in Prijedor, which also suspended production.

A new protest has been announced for December 12.

The ArcelorMittal corporation achieved a profit of over 251 million marks (129 million euros) in the Prijedor mine and the Zenica steelworks during 2021 and 2022. The annual revenues of the steelworks amounted to about one billion marks (half a billion euros).

The Zenica steelworks was built at the end of the 19th century, during the time when Bosnia and Herzegovina was under the occupation of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

The LNM Mittal group, as the corporation was then called, entered the ownership structure of the Zenica steelworks in 2004. By contract, it committed to restart production, invest 135 million US dollars, and employ 4,150 workers.

The ArcelorMittal corporation has plants in more than 60 countries worldwide, including Germany and Belgium, where production was also recently suspended. It is owned by the Indian Mittal family, whose members have been accused of irregularities in the operations of Global Ispat Koksna Industrija in Lukavac.