In the press
During Luxembourg’s steel boom, industrialists in the south of the country constructed housing in order to attract and retain workers. A century later, employers are doing the same. And not just for workers at the coalface.
Around 1880, steel manufacturing and mining companies began mushrooming in Luxembourg’s southern Minett region. Esch-sur-Alzette was still a village compared to today. Because of a lack of housing, workers from abroad lived in dorms, with up to four people sharing a bed in shifts, in some cases. Those who brought their families often lived in squalid conditions. The solution to employers like ARBED and Société Métallurgique des Terres Rouges was clear: build homes and the workers will come and stay.