More than a hundred Belgians are at risk of losing jobs at a Luxembourg floor covering manufacturer

At the Tarkett GDL company in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 126 jobs are threatened by the closure of a production line in Clervaux. The floor covering manufacturer employs many Belgian cross-border workers. According to the OGBL trade union, this concerns 105 Belgians who are at risk of being left without a job.

Management and unions have given themselves until Monday to find a solution for a social plan, after the company announced the restructuring about two weeks ago.

According to secretary Alain Roling of the Luxembourg trade union OGBL, there is “unfortunately no way back”. The Paris-headquartered group decided to close a coating line by the end of this year, which employs 126 of the 532 Tarkett employees at its two Luxembourg sites (Clervaux and Wiltz). The union primarily aims for voluntary departure and early retirement and wants to avoid outright dismissals. The trade unionist also wants to obtain an employment guarantee for the remaining 400 employees.

If unions and management do not find an agreement by Monday, a social mediator will be sent into the field, according to Roling.

Tarkett GDL wants to close the production line in Clervaux, in the north of the Grand Duchy, about seven kilometers from the border, because it is not technologically flexible enough. The union rather sees it as a hidden relocalization. “They just don’t want to invest. They will certainly produce abroad.”