According to the protesters' spokesman, Kazimierz Grajcarek, on Wednesday morning, 23 people were 500 meters underground and six more were above ground. The protest, which started on Monday at 6 a.m., is grass-roots in nature and is not a strike – mining in the mine continues.
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The miners are demanding that their plant be covered by the protective instruments provided for in the amendment to the Mining Act, which will enter into force on January 1, 2026, and will cover companies with State Treasury participation that are closing down mines. They also want Barbórka's full payment and a guarantee that they will not face any consequences for participating in the protest. As Grajcarek reports, protesters underground are safe – they have benches, bunks, sleeping bags and food.
The government calls for the suspension of the protest
On Tuesday, Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka appealed to the miners to suspend the protest during the holidays and to return to talks after January 6. He assured that the ministry is working on legislative solutions that could provide support to mine employees.
However, the minister's position was met with sharp criticism from the leader of NSZZ Solidarność in PG Silesia, Grzegorz Babija. — “This is a shot in the miner's face” – said the trade unionist, adding that the government has been analyzing the situation for months and the miners expect specific actions. Babij called on the minister to come to the protest site, fearing that the current approach of the authorities may lead to an escalation of the action.
Presidential ministers at the protest site
On Tuesday, presidential ministers Karol Rabenda and Mateusz Kotecki visited the protesters. Rabenda appealed to the government to take actions that would help end the conflict positively. He also recalled that President Karol Nawrocki, when signing the amendment to the Mining Act on December 15, emphasized that it did not cover all miners, which put them in an unequal situation.
The minister announced that the president would submit an amendment to the act, which would also cover employees of the Silesia mine. — “We are working on it so that we can take the initiative to change this act before the next session of the Sejm,” Rabenda emphasized.
Mass layoffs on the horizon
The protest in Silesia takes place in the shadow of planned collective layoffs. At the end of November, the manager of the mine's restructuring estate informed trade unions about the intention to reduce over 750 jobs. The Bumech Group, the owner of the mine, declared on December 8 its willingness to lease the plant and take over selected employees, which led to the postponement of possible layoffs until January.
PG Silesia is the largest private coal mine in Poland, whose market share in 2022 was 3%. in the production of thermal coal and 2.3 percent in the production of hard coal. Faced with the difficult financial situation of the plant, the miners count on support from both the government and the company's management.
