Belgian workers keep ArcelorMittal executives locked for second day

Brussels:Belgian workers kept six executivesof world steel giant ArcelorMittal locked up in their officefor a second straight day today, as they demanded thereopening of blast furnaces.

[caption id="attachment_99443" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="ArcelorMittal wants to keep only 200 workers at thefurnaces and said it would only return to the negotiatingtable when the executives in Liege are freed.Reuters"][/caption]

Around 150 protesters were preventing the managers fromleaving their fourth-floor office in the southern city ofLiege as negotiations hit a standstill, company spokesmanEtienne Botton said."Conditions are terrible. We had to sleep on the floorand were woken up regularly," Botton said. "Yesterday, weordered pizzas but the boxes were empty when they arrived."

The executives were not physically attacked and were ableto eat today morning, he added.Unions said they would continue their action until their

demands are met.They want the company, which employs 3,000 people in

Liege, to restart activity at two blast furnaces and keep 300interim workers employed.

ArcelorMittal wants to keep only 200 workers at thefurnaces and said it would only return to the negotiatingtable when the executives in Liege are freed.Based in Luxembourg, ArcelorMittal is run by Indianchairman and chief executive Lakshmi Mittal.

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