AFP reported that about 300 angry French steel workers burst into a union management meeting at steel giant ArcelorMittal in protest at a decision by the group to further slash output across Europe.

An AFP correspondent said that ArcelorMittal called off the emergency works council meeting at its factory in Florange in eastern France, where furnaces are to be halted over the coming months, after workers forced their way in.

Florange is one of two plants, along with Liege in Belgium, set to grind to a temporary halt under the output cuts. Unions said that 1,000 of the plant's 2,600 staff were to be put on enforced leave from mid April, for between 5 and 18 months.

Protesting staff had gathered outside the factory to demand a date for the resumption of output. A union official said that staff had been told that European production would be cut by more than half from the end of April.

ArcelorMittal had already announced a wave of production and job cuts worldwide, after reporting an operating loss of USD 3.5 billion for the last quarter of 2008.

(Sourced from www.afp.com)