Węglowa to axe pits and lay off 10,000 coal staff this year

KW, which currently employs 82,000, announced it will lay off 10,000 workers this year and another 6,000 over the next two. According to company representatives, the enterprise will have shrunk its staff size down to around 56,000 by 2010. The number of coal mines it operates will also be slashed. During the first quarter this year, the company generated zł.81.1 million in profits on revenues of zł.667.9 million, as compared to losses of zł.458 for the same period last year. By the end of 2004, the company expects to amass a profit of zł.359.5 million. Although the company's restructuring plans are seen as irrevocable, they are expected to lead to series of protests among its coal miners in Silesia. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) A.K.