The steelmaking company ArcelorMittal Acindar has renewed its suspension agreement with the metalworkers' union until December 2025, in response to a significant decline in sales impacting its plant in Villa Constitución. Although 1,000 workers are not suspended, as previously mentioned, the company clarifies that the existing suspensions are not related to the decision of the President of the United States to increase import tariffs on steel.
At the moment, the company has around 40 active suspensions, with the possibility of granting leave gradually depending on the demand for its products, which have seen a reduction of 40% to 50% compared to historical levels. According to the agreement with the Metalworkers' Union (UOM), the first 200 suspended employees will receive 80% of their salary at the start of the measure, followed by 78% and finally 75%.
During the past year, Acindar managed to reduce its workforce by 200 workers through a voluntary retirement plan, and there was also a cut of 200 indirect jobs that depended on contracting companies. The company sees the agreement with the union as a tool to implement strategies in response to the decline in sales, avoiding layoffs and opting for specific suspension agreements.
By the end of 2024, more than 700 employees, including both in-house and contracted staff, were suspended or took early vacations due to the decrease in product demand. In the same year, production fell to 600,000 tons, compared to 1,200,000 tons the previous year, figures that are significantly lower than a standard production year of around one million tons, according to the company.
Although in 2024 the company also stopped its production for the second time that year, it states that the renewal of the suspension agreement with the union is a continuation of a pre-existing agreement that encompasses all its employees, with no major suspensions planned for the rest of the year.
