TPSA unions vote on strike as profit projections released

Trade unions will vote today on whether to strike after reports last week that Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) plans to lay off some 10,000 to 12,000 employees next year. The unions claim that TPSA's planned redundancies would violate the terms of social packages it agreed to when France Telecom bought into the company. France Telecom and private partner Kulczyk Holding jointly own 47.5 percent of TPSA and have an option to increase the stake to a majority next year. The strike vote comes as TPSA, Eastern Europe's largest telecom provider, stands to earn some zl. 1.5 billion in net profit for 2002 on sales of zl. 15.7 billion, according to unofficial sources quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza. The daily reported that TPSA plans to slash its investment expenditure to nearly zl. 5.5 billion in 2002 from this year's planned zl. 7 billion. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 26, Parkiet, p. 2, Reuters) T.J.