Miners say that Deputy Economy Minister has lost their trust and should go

Miners' trade unions have demanded the dismissal of Deputy Economy Minister Marek Kossowski, who is responsible for restructuring the coal sector. "He has lost miners' trust, so he should go to avoid causing widescale social conflict," threatened the unionists. The miners say that Kossowski did not discuss his plans with them of the program to reform the mining sector for 2003-2006. The unions are against redundancies, cutting output by 15 million tons, extending the working week to six days and freezing salaries for three years. "We get the impression that the minister cares more about the matters of the gas sector lobby than about working out the problems of the coal industry," wrote the unionists in a letter sent to Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Kossowski claims that he had consulted the restructuring program with the trade unions and that their accusations are groundless. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 3) A.D.