Forges de Clabecq

Was a 100-year-old family firm run by the last representative of the founding family until 1995, kept out of the regroupings in the Belgian steel industry which occurred at the end of the 1970s. It then still employed 5,000 workers and had its own markets and specific products. The public authorities became shareholders in the 1980s, but left the power of decision with the private shareholders, the families and their banking groups. In 1992, a strike broke out in protest at the management’s proposals to dismantle non-profitable installations and to cut jobs.

Bankruptcy was declared at the beginning of 1997, after the refusal of assent by the European Commission, and all the Clabecq employees were dismissed. Resources were insufficient to pay back the bank loans or pay the legal compensation and the debts owed to the workforce.