Striking steelworkers plan to escalate action

Production at Algeria’s largest steel coking plant – the ArcelorMittal El Hajar facility in Annaba – ground to a halt earlier this week after 7,200 workers went on strike.

According to an AFP correspondent on the ground in Algeria, the discontent workers are planning to “escalate their action” unless the Algerian government offers them a written commitment to re-open a coking facility closed last October.

"We have decided to launch a general and indefinite strike," union leader Smain Kouadria told Reuters. "We will stop the strike only if the coking plant is renovated, but top management has informed us that [this] is not a priority. We must defend our jobs.”

According to managing director Vincent Le Gouic, the El Hajar complex – which was privatised in 2001 – produced approximately 750,000 tonnes of flat and long steel products in 2009.

Initially, the facility was closed for a year for renovation but was abandoned after senior managers at the company realised that renovation would take much longer. Union representatives have claimed that permanent closure would lead to hundreds of job losses in a region already struggling under the weight of the global crisis.

Based on stated union demands, the disgruntled steelworkers are looking for ArcelorMittal as well as the Algerian state to jointly invest in the original renovation plan.

An ArcelorMittal spokesperson confirmed that management at the complex met union leaders on 18 January to discuss technical measures necessary to ensure that the complex's furnaces are not damaged during the halt in production.