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EFBWW News

Joint Statement on occasion of LafargeHolcim Annual General Meeting

11/05/2020

The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) together with the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and with IndustriALL Global published a joint statement on the occasion of LafargeHolcim Annual General Meeting.

We believe that LafargeHolcim must prioritize the protection of employment, income and the health and safety of all those who work for them worldwide.

For the duration of the health emergency in each country, LafargeHolcim must shut down non-essential operations and protect workers performing essential work from COVID-19 in their work activities. Workers performing non-essential work should be furloughed with wage and employment protection. In addition, as the return to the workplace proceeds in many countries, it is especially important to provide adequate protection for all workers to prevent a new wave of COVID-19.

Furthermore, we believe that LafargeHolcim should not be paying extravagant dividends during this pandemic and that these amounts of money should be kept in the company in order to guarantee not only its financial health but also to be able to meet its obligations towards its workers and social security systems.

Shareholders should be aware that LafargeHolcim workers who need to stay at home are being obliged to use up all their available annual leave entitlement for 2020 and for 2021 in order to continue receiving their basic wage.

We trust that LafargeHolcim and its shareholders will agree that collective bargaining agreements should be respected during the COVID–19 crisis. Failure to do so jeopardise the respectful industrial relations established over many years in Lafarge and Holcim in a large number of countries.