Steelworkers, Car-Parts Staff and Journalists Draw a Line: A Europe-Wide Pushback Against Plant Closures

From the Siegerland to Brittany, workers facing shutdowns and deep job cuts are refusing to go quietly. Workforces, works councils and unions are answering closure notices with strikes, street protests and legal challenges — and increasingly finding allies in local government, which has its own reasons to defend industrial jobs and long-established economic structures.

A Steel Town Told to Wait Until 2028

At Deutsche Edelstahlwerke (DEW), part of the Swiss Steel group, the Siegen-Geisweid steelworks is slated to pause from mid-2028. Swiss Steel is reorganising DEW and intends to concentrate future steel production in Witten. Some 400 jobs in the Siegerland are at stake, with knock-on effects reaching into the neighbouring district of Altenkirchen. The works council has promised fierce resistance and is preparing the workforce for an industrial dispute.

A similar fight is brewing in Duisburg, where ArcelorMittal plans to end steelmaking from October 2027. According to company figures, around 550 jobs are currently affected; only the wire rod mill is to keep running. The CGM union has demanded that vetted alternatives be disclosed and that talks be held on preserving the site. A social plan is no substitute for industrial policy, argued federal chairman Sebastian Scheder, pointing to Saarland, where Dillinger Hütte and Saarstahl are pressing ahead with the switch to green steel backed by state support.

Insolvency in Saxony-Anhalt

Weber Magdeburg GmbH ran into trouble after its main customer, Porsche, pulled out. Porsche had originally committed to buying cylinder heads until 2032 but awarded the contract to a Thuringian company instead. Following the insolvency filing at the Konstanz district court, a provisional administrator was appointed. Around 120 employees are affected at the Salbke site.

Solidarity Motions and Roadblocks

The conflict has crossed borders. In the Belgian town of Seneffe, the municipal council unanimously passed a solidarity motion for the workforces of Alysse Food and Syngenta. Alysse Food is insolvent, while Syngenta has justified its planned site closure on strategic economic grounds. Its employees have been on strike since 25 September 2026, after rejecting an offer from the employer.

In France, roughly 150 staff at Bluebus and Blue Solutions — subsidiaries of the Bolloré group — have been striking since 15 October 2026 in Ergué-Gabéric in Brittany. Management plans to cut 115 of the 350 jobs at the site. Strikers set up roadblocks to protest the reductions.

Italian unions called strikes on 12 October 2026 at the former Ilva sites, and a walkout was announced for 19 October 2026 at supplier Baomarc in Atessa. There, worker representatives are fighting the judicial liquidation sought by majority shareholder Baosteel for a plant that is running at full capacity and makes key components for car production.

Retail and Media Feel the Squeeze Too

Away from heavy industry, resistance is forming as well. In Göttingen, another insolvency at Galeria threatens around 70 employees at the town-centre store, according to the local Green party council group. Councillors called for rapid clarity on the proceedings and for the traditional department store to be preserved, and backed the union's demands.

In Switzerland, newsrooms at the Tamedia media group are calling for protests. On 5 October 2026 the company announced it would cut 34 full-time positions in German-speaking Switzerland and in Romandie, affecting 41 employees. Staff criticise the absence of consultations and of a voluntary redundancy programme, and — after a protest letter was rejected — are demanding consequences for the management.