Nearly 150 employees at the Liberty Steel site in Dudelange have not received a salary since October. "Some families are in a very difficult situation, especially in the run-up to Christmas," Robert Fornieri, deputy general secretary of the LCGB trade union, said when the company was official declared bankrupt during a court hearing .

Since then, employees have been waiting to find out when they will be able to collect their wages. "The most urgent thing is for the employees to get their back pay for October and November," commented Olivier Wagner, who was appointed bankruptcy trustee, on leaving the court. “They will be entitled to the severance payments provided for in the labour code, which correspond to the month of bankruptcy, the subsequent month, i.e. December, and half the notice period to which they would have been entitled in the event of conventional dismissal.”

Following a request from MP (déi Lénk), the labour minister (CSV) and economy minister (DP) were heard by a parliamentary committee on Thursday 5 December on the consequences of the bankruptcy of the British group Liberty Steel for its Dudelange site. Mischo said that "150 employees are directly affected by the situation. A meeting with Adem is planned in the next few days to inform the employees of the steps to be taken, particularly with regard to their compensation payments, and to consider a possible career change", according to the Chamber of Deputies website.

No official date for salary payments

Fornieri, contacted by Paperjam, confirmed this. “I myself asked for these two meetings with Adem, which are taking place in Belval this Friday [6 December], so that we can answer the various questions and above all enable employees to register directly as jobseekers. We are currently in the process of finalising the claims declarations so that they can be filed with the court clerk's office as quickly as possible. The rest is in the hands of the receiver, who is analysing possible takeover solutions.”

Regarding these potential buyers, Delles explained, per parliament’s website, that “interested parties will have to contact the bankruptcy trustee. The MPs stressed the importance of a future buyer not only relaunching the site's activity, but also reintegrating existing employees in order to preserve know-how. With regard to the site, Lex Delles pointed out that it was the property of the state, which had requested a study into the pollution of the land, particularly in the area where the service centre is located.”

Questioned by RTL as he left the parliamentary committee, Mischo reportedly explained that employees "would receive advances before Christmas", but Fornieri stated that “the claims will not be completed until next week because adjustments to documents, bonuses, etc. still have to be made. It is difficult to estimate the timing of repayments at the moment.”

Read the original French-language version of this news report /