Shareholders and demonstrators at our AGM

May 12, 2009. At the 2nd floor of our Luxembourg headquarters, shareholders are voting one of the 12 resolutions on the agenda. Suddenly, an alarm goes off. Moments of confusion. Downstairs, a group of participants in a demonstration against temporary lay offs is trying to demolish the front door of the building and throwing smoke bombs. Only a few people in the meeting room actually know what’s going on…

Mr Mittal apologises for the disturbance and the shareholder meeting continues normally. Once the session is over and people start to leave the room, we notice the smoke. Some shareholders start coughing. All participants (shareholders, management, media, employees) are requested to stay on the 2nd floor for our own security.

In the meantime, downstairs, almost 1,500 colleagues, according to the Luxembourg police, are taking part in the demonstration. They come mostly from the neighbouring countries of Belgium and France. They are concerned about their jobs; they want guarantees about their future; they want to keep on working as they did before the global crisis started…

Some people inside the building are concerned about their safety. “Violence is never the answer,” they think to themselves. Steelworkers outside find it hard to believe that a downturn that started in the financial area is now stopping blast furnaces that had been running for a hundred years…

Both shareholders upstairs and employees downstairs have 1 thing in common: As Mr Mittal says, “We are all frustrated, because we want to make steel. This is the purpose of our Company. But the reality is that we cannot produce what we cannot sell.”

In the end, everyone is safe. And the front door, made of steel, resists the attack, (although the glass doesn’t – replaced a few hours later). In the midst of these turbulent times, we believe that our industry will be as resistant as our product.

Pictures: Shareholders, policemen and unions, at our Annual General Meeting. (Solène Vincens)