Unions mobilize to block PKN Orlen's latest plans

It also plans to restructure all the company's structures in Poland. The changes will result in around 300 redundancies. Trade unions strongly object to this and yesterday decided to begin protest action. "We have survived four Orlen's boards. And although they were different, none of them violated our rights with such impudence. They think that laying off employees means restructuring the company - that is not true," stated Zbigniew Kędzierski a representative of PKN Orlen's trade unions. Orlen wants to restructure its organization due to the decrease of its share of the retail market, which fell by 6.8% between 2002 and 2004, while the share of its largest competitors (mostly Western oil concerns) grew by 5%. "The current company structures are a result of the lack of restructuring after the merger of CPN and Petrochemia Płock. In fact, it is an organization which was established several decades ago and except for insignificant changes has not been transformed," stated Wojciech Heydel, Orlen's deputy president responsible for sales. The organizational changes will result in annual savings of zł.26 million. (Parkiet, p. 1) E.B.