ArcelorMittal averts strike at Gijon, Spain steelworks

ArcelorMittal has reached a labor agreement at its Gijon steelworks in Spain plant which will avert a five-day strike, a company spokesman told S&P Global Monday.

The company agreed to backtrack on 44 job cuts, around one fifth of the plant’s employees, which it had intended to carry out amid a general regional cutback in production.

As a result, a five-day strike called by the workers’ council has been called off, the spokesman said.

The step back comes amid a series of partial strikes at the company’s two plants in Asturias related to collective contracts. There are also further strikes planned by auxiliary workers due at the end of this week, according to local paper El Comercio.

Since May, AM has reduced production at the 5 million mt/year Gijon site by around 800,000 mt/year.