More than 200 workers facing unemployment, a potential cut-off of heating for residential districts in Zabrze and the Municipal Hospital – these are the catastrophic consequences of the planned closure of the Jadwiga coking plant in Zabrze, scheduled for early 2027. The situation of the entire JSW Koks company is described as dramatic and threatens collapse, yet ministries subordinate to Prime Minister Donald Tusk remain stubbornly silent. Trade unionists have no doubt: EU climate policy is to blame.
The Jadwiga coking plant, over a century old and the oldest facility of its kind in Poland, has found itself on the brink of collapse. The plant, part of the Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa Group (JSW Koks), is set to be shut down in the near future. As acting CEO of JSW, Bogusław Oleksy, admitted during a session of the Zabrze City Council, the situation of the entire company is dire.
The specter of mass layoffs is not limited to Silesia. JSW’s coking plants also operate in Radlin and Dąbrowa Górnicza, employing more than 2,300 workers in total (including around 400 in Radlin and over 1,500 in Dąbrowa Górnicza). Their jobs are now hanging by a thread.
Even the Ministry of State Assets has been forced to acknowledge the market collapse of the giant: in just the first three quarters of 2025, the company generated nearly PLN 3 billion in losses.
Zabrze without heating, officials without answers
In the face of the looming crisis, local authorities are attempting to intervene. Zabrze city councilors have issued a dramatic appeal to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Minister of State Assets Wojciech Balczun, and Minister of Energy Miłosz Motyka. They emphasize that the plant plays a crucial role in supplying heat to the Biskupice district and the Municipal Hospital.
Local officials warn that if the plant is closed, building a new heating system would take around three years. Meanwhile, only 12 months remain to find a solution.
Instead of constructive support or a lifeline for Polish industry, there is only silence from state institutions.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, Grzegorz Łaguna, has refused to comment, while representatives of JSW Koks and the Zabrze City Hall limit themselves to vague reassurances. City spokesperson Rafał Kulig states only that alternative options for ensuring a stable heat source are being analyzed. Meanwhile, JSW Koks spokesperson Bartosz Chmielewski speaks in general terms about maintaining social dialogue and holding talks with stakeholders to allegedly secure heat supplies for the 2026/2027 heating season. Given the hard financial data, these assurances offer no real guarantees to workers.
Trade unions sound the alarm: The Green Deal is to blame!
Workers’ patience has long run out. Irena Przybysz, head of the Solidarność 80 trade union at JSW Koks in Zabrze, has decided to organize a protest action in defense of the plant. Trade unionists point directly to those responsible for the collapse of a key sector of the economy – what they describe as absurd environmental requirements imposed by Brussels, including the destructive ETS system.
Piotr Górecki, chairman of the Inter-Plant Trade Union Organization of NSZZ Solidarność at JSW Koks, described the situation to our editorial team:
“The employer is not talking to us, which is why ‘Solidarność 80’ organized a protest at ‘Jadwiga’. All three coking plants are at risk of closure – there are over 2,300 workers here. The Green Deal and ETS are to blame. Our product – coke – is cheaper than coal. It’s like a baker selling bread for less than flour.”
As he adds, miners have been unsuccessfully sending letters to the government and MPs since December last year. EU regulations, he argues, have led to a market absurdity in which Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa – one of Europe’s largest coke producers – is drowning in debt, and production is becoming unprofitable.
Górecki does not mince words when assessing the lack of government support:
“The situation is disastrous not only in JSW Koks but across the entire JSW Group. Despite being one of the largest coke producers in Europe, coal prices are higher than the price of a ton of coke produced – and one ton of coke requires 1.4 tons of coal blend. It’s like being a baker whose bread is cheaper than flour. And what about all the other costs? One might ask why produce coke at all – but soon we will become energy-dependent on other countries.
The coking plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza is a complex of four batteries, including the newest in Europe, scheduled to be launched this year. The plant and the entire JSW Koks have huge potential, but they need government support – which is lacking. We feel no support from either the Ministry of Energy or the Ministry of State Assets. We are sinking deeper into debt every day. I don’t know where this is heading. I’m not saying we shouldn’t care about the environment, but everything must be done with common sense, not imposed from above. We live on coal and can benefit from it. We don’t have as much sun or wind as other parts of the continent – so how are we supposed to remain competitive?”