Liberty Ostrava to close coke plant and lay off workers

The Liberty Ostrava Steelworks, Czechia’s largest producer of steel, plans to close its coke plant and is preparing to lay off workers, the company said in a press release, without specifying how many employees would be laid off. Liberty submitted a proposal to reduce the number of employees to the trade unions on Tuesday.

The head of the KOVO trade union organisation, Petr Slanina, told the Czech News Agency that the redundancies could affect up to 2,600 people, with 2,300 employees leaving by the end of November and 300 by the end of January, according to information the trade union leaders received from the management.

The company currently employs about 5,000 people, although the majority have not been working since last December, when most of Liberty's operations were forced to close down. The employees have not been paid for two months and are being compensated by the state.

The steelworks has been in insolvency since June, after the company admitted it was unable to meet overdue liabilities exceeding CZK 5 billion.