Mining crisis continues

Another four Kompania Weglowa’ mines started to strike. Several hundred miners from Chwałowice, Jankowice, Mercel, Rydułtowy-Anna have been protesting underground since Monday. That increased the number of protesters roughly by 800 people. Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz met with labor unions in Katowice later that day. As much as 50 Silesia Solidarity labor union members blocked the railways in Katowice. Due to the protest, trains heading to Warsaw, Wrocław, Kielce, Sosnowiec and Kraków did not operate. PKP launched bus services. What is more, a few dozen residents of Brzeszcze town blocked a way to the plant on Sunday evening in order to support the miners. The protest continued the next day. First Lady Anna Komorowska and Presidential Minister Irena Wóycicka hosted miners’ wives at the Chancellery of the President of Poland. “Closing mines means cutting access to coal as a fuel. This is an action against Polish national interest,” Piotr Duda, the president of the National Commission of Solidarity said. In Duda’s opinion, the government does not take the matter seriously, “Look what happened on Saturday, when the government delegation arrived its members did not have the mandate to sign any possible agreement.” Professor Stanisław Gomułka, a Business Center Club (BCC) expert believes that Polish governments have been neglecting the situation in the industry for years. The sector had been profitable and the authorities did not manage to make the necessary expenditures in order to modernize it. Under the government’s plan of restructuring the Polish mining industry, Kompania Węglowa, the biggest mining company in Poland will be divided. Some of the mines are to be incorporated into Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń in order to shut them down. Other companies will become a part of the special purpose entity established by Węglokoks. The rest of the assets is to be sold or liquidated, the government informed. As much as 6,000 employees are to be transferred and around 5,200 people will lose their jobs.