After more than two and a half hours, the “star march” of trade union organizations ended in Katowice. Its participants demanded, among others: a significant revision of the Green Deal, saving Polish industry and a just transformation of the province. Silesian.
Trade unionists and supporters of organizations associated in the Inter-Union Protest and Strike Committee of the Silesian-Dąbrowa Region marched from several parts of Katowice to the Silesian Voivodeship Office. There was a demonstration there in defense of industry and jobs.
The “starry march”, which consisted of three trade unionists' marches numbering thousands of people, set off at around 15.30 from three parts of Katowice: Załęża, Kościuszko Park and in front of Spodek. The march was accompanied by a tumult of drums, sirens and trumpets. The participants of the demonstration – despite the requests of the organizers – also set off firecrackers and flares.
On the square The first to arrive at the Silesian Sejm at the Silesian Voivodeship Office was a column led from the direction of Kościuszko Park by the Kadra, Solidarność 80 and OPZZ unions. Then came the processions from before Spodek, mainly with members of Solidarity and Załęże. The recurring theme of the entire protest was the chant: Eat the Green Deal.
As Dominik Kolorz, the chairman of Silesian-Dąbrowa Solidarity, assessed in his speech, the demonstration showed that when there is a problem in Silesia, trade union colors are irrelevant. – We can unite and be together. Only together we can defend Silesia, defend the industry, steelworks, coking plants, mines and the automotive industry. Let all of Poland see, let the government see, that you can't fool around with Silesia, he shouted.
He argued that the unions and those demonstrating today are “saving Silesia.” He explained that the main goals of the demonstration were opposition to the Green Deal. He diagnosed that all governments since 2007 are responsible for bringing the Polish metallurgy, mining, energy, arms industry and automotive industry to the current “tragic situation”.
– You still have a chance to turn it around. Those in power now have a chance to reverse it, concluded Kolorz, referring to Prime Minister Donald Tusk's recent declaration that there will be a deep revision of the Green Deal policy. – Today, by submitting a petition to Prime Minister Tusk, we demand, first of all, a thorough review of the emission charging system. Because ETS fees are ruinous, they cause us to have horrendously high energy prices – he said.
He argued that if energy produced from brown or hard coal were taxed in Europe in the same way as any other energy, it would be one of the cheapest in Europe and Poland. He argued that the reason why expensive wind energy is being promoted in Poland is the money behind this industry. Turning again to the Prime Minister, he called on him to use legal options to block steel imports.
Kolorz also mentioned the lack of implementation of the social contract for mining workers, which included elements of the transformation of the province. Silesia and the assumptions of the draft amendment to the Mining Act, thanks to which employees are to benefit from social protection, and the financing of which he considered insufficient.
Referring to the situation of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, the head of Silesian-Dąbrowa Solidarity turned to the new management board of JSW and the Minister of State Assets. – You will no longer reach for miners' money like it was 10 years ago. You won't reach it. We simply won't let you do that. Stay away from miners' wages, he shouted.
Mentioning the situation of other industries, e.g. the automotive industry, which is experiencing downtime, Kolorz concluded that it is beginning to “resemble the situation from 25 years ago.” – We will absolutely not allow something like what happened 25 years ago in Silesia, and that is why we are here – he pointed out.
– (…) We will no longer allow Silesian cities to be depopulated. (…) This is not what a just transformation is supposed to look like. (…) You cannot waste the money allocated for this transformation. (…) You must maintain Polish industry, the trade unionist called.
He also stated that Poland is often governed by “people who lie: they sign but do not implement.” – This has been the case for the last 10 years. This will no longer be the case, he declared.
The leader of August 80, Bogusław Ziętek, said that employees and “ordinary people” today care more about Poland's security and sovereignty than those in power.
– This is the country. Our sovereignty is being destroyed. Our energy sector is in worse condition than the Ukrainian energy sector, which is bombarded by Russia every day. They don't have to bomb us. It is enough that we have such a government. In just two years, there will be no coal-fired units: the ones that are still saving our system today. In five or seven years at most, there will be no Bełchatów mine and power plant, which gives us 22 percent. energy. And they dream that by 2035 there will be no mine in Poland, neither extracting thermal nor coking coal – said the head of August 80.
– Our energy system is dying loudly. I want to say it very brutally: there will be no nuclear power plant in Poland after 2045. It is not known whether there will be one at all, but if there is, it will not be earlier. So if we delete Bełchatów and all mines by 2036, and these are the plans, where will we get energy from? We will be the only country where energy security will depend on the most expensive, least stable energy: offshore, he added.
– The government still thinks that Silesia will cope, that they will shout at each other in Silesia and go away. But we are people who have responsibility for this country and this region. And we will not allow anyone to drive us out of here, neither those nor the previous ones, nor the ones before that, declared Bogusław Ziętek.
The chairman of the Kadra union, Dariusz Trzcionka, called on the government to implement the social contract. – We demand guarantees for Silesia. We demand the creation of new jobs. These are the demands that were included in the social contract, he emphasized. He noted that the amendment to the Mining Act, which in his opinion contains errors, will still be processed. In this context, he appealed to the Speaker of the Sejm to proceed quickly.
– We demand a real transformation of the Silesian region, unpretentious. We demand that the provisions of the act that established the Silesian Voivodeship Transformation Fund be met. But they forgot that the money that was to be transferred for this restructuring was also recorded there. We will fight for it, said Trzcionka. – We demand cheap electricity and energy security for the country – said the Cadre leader.
At the end of the demonstration, when representatives of the Inter-Union Protest and Strike Committee went to the voivode to hand him a petition, the gathered crowd showed the government the “red cards” they had prepared earlier. After the delegation's return, Kolorz reported that the petition was received by the Silesian Voivode, Marek Wójcik, and the new Deputy Minister of Energy, Marian Zmarzły, who were to declare that they were on the side of the demonstrators.
– But that remains to be seen. Leaving this meeting, we said one thing. The Prime Minister has been eating so tasty żurek lately. And today we are the second course and I hope we don't have to come to Warsaw with dessert. We give a short time to solve our problems – concluded the head of Silesian-Dąbrowa Solidarity.
Tuesday's demonstration resulted in numerous difficulties in Katowice. Sections of streets were closed, trams passing through the Katowice market square were suspended, and the routes of nearly 60 bus lines were changed.
Last week, the Katowice city hall reported that, according to the organizers' notification, the estimated number of participants could have reached 10,000. people.
The demonstration was organized by the Inter-Union Protest and Strike Committee of the Silesian-Dąbrowa Region (MKPS) – reactivated after five years. October 13 this year the committee includes Solidarity, OPZZ, Trade Union Forum and August 80. (PAP)
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