Employees attack ArcelorMittal's Luxembourg HQ

The world's biggest steelmaker is having labour trouble.

Around 2,000 angry employees of ArcelorMittal tried to break down the doors at the company's Luxemborg headquarters, smashing windows, and throwing smoke flares from inside.

This happened when the company's annual general meeting (AGM) was in progress at the venue. They were protesting against the steel magnate's plans to cut jobs. CNBC-TV18's Sanjay Suri reports.

The rally was finally broken up by police, who fired rubber bullets at the protestors. In a statement, Arcelor Mittal confirmed the protests, but said that the AGM went well, with all resolutions being passed. No one entered the premises and no one was injured, it said.

There seems to be a clear link between these attacks and last year's Grandrange unrest in France. The union leaders at Grandrange had spoken of Luxembourg — the head office — as a possible target.

Mittal had spoken of cutting cost in high-cost centres. He had said that the company may have to cut 9,000 jobs globally including 6,000 in Europe, due to falling steel demand. He also added that the company has also decided to shut down 25 furnaces in Europe, as the plants were operating at 50% capacity for last few months.

It is being presumed that the attacks are a retaliation to Mittal's comments.