Disagreement over early retirement in iron and steel

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At a meeting of Luxembourg's iron and steel sector employment supervisory committee in December 1999, fundamental disagreements were expressed concerning early retirement for employees born after 1945.

The 13 December 1999 meeting of the "iron and steel sector employment supervisory committee" (Comité de surveillance des effectifs de la sidérurgie) focused on the implementation of measures adopted by an iron and steel sector tripartite meeting in 1996, whereby employees born in 1943 and 1944 could take early retirement on 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2001 respectively, and on further early retirement issues.

The Luxembourg Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (Onofhängege Gewerkschafts-Bond Lëtzebuerg, OGB-L) and Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Lëtzebuerger Chrëschtleche Gewerkschafts-Bond, LCGB) stated that they were pleased to hear that the Minister of Labour wants to meet the supervisory committee regularly in future, as this will enable him to keep a close watch on impending issues relating to employment levels in the sector.

The iron and steel industry group, ARBED, is in favour of staggering early retirement for employees born between 1945 and 1947 as follows: those born in 1945 would take early retirement on their birthday, while those born in 1946 would have to wait for six months after their birthday, and those born in 1947 would have to wait 12 months. ARBED management is also opposed to extending early retirement to staff born after 1947, on the grounds that this would lead to a disruption of services and a significant loss of know-how.

The trade union representatives rejected the employers' position out of hand, quoting a cabinet decision made in 15 September 1999 which supported further use of early retirement, and stated that a new recruitment drive would help to reorganise operations. ARBED has been authorised to recruit an additional 100 employees a year in 1999 and 2000 to ensure that the company's amended structures function effectively. To avoid any injustices, OGB-L and LCGB insist that all employees who remained loyal to the ARBED in its difficult years should be treated identically to those who have already left. Accordingly, the unions want staff born between 1945 and 1947 to take early retirement on 1 January or on their birthday, and early retirement to be retained for those born later than 1947.