Steel sector employment reductions proceeding apace to meet 2003 deadline

The European Union has demanded that Poland reduce employment in the steel sector to 30,000 employees in the year 2003. Currently, to the surprise of the Economy Ministry, which had forecast it at 43,0000, steel industry employment decreased to 36,800. Professor Jozef Paluch from the Iron Metallurgy Institute says that at this rate Poland will meet these European employment requirements by the 2003 deadline. The EU is also advising Polish steel mills, especially Huta Katowice, to limit production of ⌠long■ rails, a move that would mean further large employee cuts. At the same time, steelworkers▓ trade unions are calling for extension of social benefits packages to cover employees working in companies that were recently separated from core steelwork plants.(Puls Biznesu, p. 5) M.T.