Failure of talks at JSW. Trade unionists: There is no consent to reaching into miners' pockets
Tuesday's talks between the management board of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa and the unions operating within it, regarding the temporary reduction of labor costs in the company, ended without an agreement – JSW said in a press release.
Trade unions respond that “there is and will not be consent to reaching into miners' pockets under the pretext of saving the company.”
Failure of negotiations and a call for responsibility
As reported in JSW's Tuesday afternoon information, talks between the Management Board of JSW SA and the social side regarding “the need to temporarily reduce labor costs in the company” ended without reaching an agreement.
The Management Board of JSW remains determined to continue the dialogue and develop solutions that will allow the company to operate safely and protect jobs, it was written.
It was added that the management board invariably appeals to the social side for a responsible approach, openness to compromise and making decisions aimed at securing the future of the company and employment stability.
Talks with the social side are to be continued, and the company will inform about their results after the arrangements are finalized – summarized the afternoon information.
“Pay and cry.” Unions accuse the management
The position of the unions was presented before the talks by the chairman of Solidarity at JSW, Sławomir Kozłowski. As he said in a recording shared on social media, on December 11, the unions received the JSW recovery plan, and on December 23, the draft agreement – both letters with three-day deadlines for responding.
“The agreement assumes that the burden of financial and economic costs of saving the company will fall on the shoulders of the employees: 80 percent these costs on the shoulders of JSW employees and miners. This is a project that is, in short, intended to rob JSW employees,” said the trade unionist.
Where is the owner now? Where is the responsibility of the owner who for years received all profits and income of JSW to the state treasury – asked Kozłowski.
As he calculated, in February 2024, JSW had PLN 9 billion at its disposal, including PLN 5.7 billion in the stabilization fund, over PLN 2 billion in cash and PLN 1.6 billion in the form of a loan. He asked where and for what the money was spent and added that no one wanted to talk about it.
“And this is the basis: to clarify whether the money was properly spent to ensure that the company functions properly. Now both the owner and the employer say to the employees: pay and cry. It can't be like this. We do not agree to this. We say a firm no to what the employer and the owner do. We do not consent. And we will not talk in this style and in this way,” said Sławomir Kozłowski.
“There is and will not be consent to reaching into miners' pockets under the pretext of saving the company” – stated on Tuesday on the profile of the Solidarity organization of the Pniówek mine. It was recognized that employees had been bearing the burden of difficult decisions for years, risking their health and life, and today they are being held responsible for a situation they had no influence on.
As added in the entry, taking away wages is not a recovery program, but “a simple transfer of the costs of poor management to the weakest.” “If JSW is to look for savings, it should start with its own decisions and the responsibility of its management staff, not by attacking people who go underground every day,” it said.
“There is no longer room for illusions.” The management board of JSW warns against the company's collapse
Earlier on Tuesday, JSW signaled that the talks scheduled for that day “will significantly determine the future fate of JSW and thousands of jobs.” The management board “strongly” appealed to the social side “for full responsibility, readiness to compromise and to make decisions that will secure the future of the company.”
The attitude of the social side determines whether it will be possible to launch key corrective actions and avoid the most serious consequences for JSW and its employees – the company warned before the talks.
She emphasized that trade union organizations have repeatedly demonstrated responsibility for the future of JSW and its employees in the past. “Today this attitude is especially needed,” the management appealed.
He explained that he had been working intensively on the business restructuring plan for many weeks, and during that time numerous meetings with representative unions were held. He also noted that “the scale of the challenges JSW is currently facing is greater than in previous periods of economic downturn, and the time to make decisions is very limited.”
“You cannot continue to operate in a situation where costs are higher than revenues. Optimization of labor costs is one of the main conditions for ensuring the continued operation of JSW and obtaining the necessary financing. All corrective actions that were directly under the management's responsibility have already been implemented or are at an advanced stage of implementation. However, without an agreement with the social side regarding the temporary reduction of labor costs, effective implementation of the recovery program will not be possible,” argued the company's management.
They also emphasized that in the face of economic realities, “there is no longer room for illusions: each party must take co-responsibility for the future of JSW, being aware that the fate of the region and the future of thousands of mining families depend on the decisions made today.”
JSW's dramatic financial situation
November 25 this year JSW announced that its net loss after three quarters of 2025 reached PLN 2.9 billion cumulatively. Sales revenues amounted to PLN 7 billion, and the EBITDA result was minus PLN 1.4 billion. In the third quarter alone, JSW generated PLN 2.3 billion in sales revenues, with a gross loss on sales of PLN 524 million. EBITDA excluding one-off events amounted to minus PLN 485 million, and the net loss was PLN 794 million.
The next day, the company's acting president, Bogusław Oleksy, presented at the results conference the details of the business restructuring plan, the main areas of which are: financial security, permanent reduction of operating costs and creation of an effective structure of the JSW capital group.
Assumptions for the business restructuring of the JSW group include: developing a support plan by the State Treasury, reaching an agreement with the social side regarding cost reduction and work organization, developing a group restructuring plan and developing financing conditions with financial institutions.
PLN 3 billion is needed for liquidity
December 15 this year Minister of State Assets Wojciech Balczun said that JSW needs approximately PLN 3 billion of financing to ensure liquidity in 2026. As he said then, the company is very intensively negotiating obtaining commercial financing from the international market, and at the same time a loan from the Restructuring Fund is being negotiated.
“We assume that part of the funds will come from the Reprivatization Fund and the rest from the market. At the same time, JSW must restructure,” said the head of MAP in mid-December. (PAP)
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