ArcelorMittal SA said that it was uncertain whether there would be job losses in the future at the company.

In a conference call, Ms Nku Nyembezi Heita CEO of ArcelorMittal said that "While we all hope for a better tomorrow, with today's reality we cannot give any kind of guarantees regarding our permanent labor force."

Ms Heita said that further actions will be taken to reduce production costs, as they expect a more challenging second quarter.

She added that if steel prices slid from their present levels, the company would be forced to look at its facilities and if some were shut down, this would obviously have an impact on permanent staff. She said that "We simply cannot say."

Mr Zwelinzima Vavi the union's secretary general said that the current global economic meltdown and huge job losses have badly affected South Africans. He added that "We are celebrating May day in a very difficult context. There are job losses and trends of job losses affecting thousands of workers. This is the worst environment to celebrate May Day. It is not an ideal one. In May day rallies we will continue to the repeat the call we making that we want to see the President on a daily basis providing leadership in terms of how South Africa should deal with the crisis."

(Sourced from www.sabcnews.com)