“All jobs can be maintained until the political measures to support the steelworks come into force,” underlined the Unia and Syna unions, the Swiss Society of Commercial Employees and Employés Suisse in a joint press release on the subject. of the steelmaker Stahl Gerlafingen. According to them, “maintaining the know-how of workers and production capacities in Gerlafingen (in the canton of Solothurn) is fundamental to ensuring the sustainability of the Swiss steel recycling industry”.
With this decision, and after consultation with the family of owners, Stahl Gerlafingen “wants to await political developments” on this issue, the company underlined in a separate press release. If the political projects to support the sector were to succeed, the firm “would obtain stable prospects”, she added.
Manifestations
The subsidiary of the Italian group Beltrame announced in October the dismissal of 120 employees, according to the unions, after having revealed in March the closure of one of its two production lines and the elimination of dozens of positions, in particular due to blockages with the EU for export.
At the beginning of November, nearly a thousand people demonstrated in front of the Gerlafingen steelworks for the maintenance of the factory. Following these demonstrations, the Committee on Economy and Fees of the Council of States approved three motions instructing the Federal Council to take rapid measures, given the financial difficulties of Stahl Gerlafingen.
The Gerlafingen site is described as Switzerland’s largest steel recycling plant, producing almost half of the country’s concrete reinforcement. “Massive distortions of competition have heavily penalized the sales and margins of the Solothurn site,” insisted Stahl Gerlafingen, recalling that the Beltrame family invested 450 million francs in the site. “We will do everything we can to continue to operate this factory,” underlined general manager Alain Creteur.
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