"Silesia" protest comes to an end after nine days

The nine-day protest at the "Silesia" coal mine located in Czechowice-Dziedzice has come to an end after representatives of Katowice-based Kompania Węglowa (KW) presented a prospective agreement fulfilling all the unionists' demands. According to the signed arrangement, management has guaranteed that the coalmine will not be shut down earlier than 2006 - the workers' central demand. KW also announced that none of the unionists who took part in the protest would be punished, and that the losses caused by a halt in production would be made up by the end of this year. The underground protest at Silesia began when local papers reported that the coal mine had found itself on a list of plants soon to be closed. (www.polskieradio.pl) A.K.