All blast furnaces, except one, have completely stopped steelmaking and rolling at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian subsidiary of global steelmaker ArcelorMittal, due to a strike by the company’s railway division workers, the company said in a statement.
The main demands of the workers are raising wages to the European level of €1,000 and ensuring the compliance of all rolling stock with labor safety standards.
The company said that at the moment ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih employs more than 21,000 people and the average wage is UAH 14,000, stating that this is a competitive wage among mining and metallurgical enterprises in Ukraine. Since May 1, the salary has been raised by 20 percent.
“If this situation cannot be resolved in the near future, production will be completely stopped, its restoration will take a long time and will require the spending of enormous resources,” the statement concluded.