“I’ve just been fired. I was among the first to receive notice. They’d been looking for something to pin on me ever since the protest ended. I was also reprimanded for allegedly insulting other union activists,” Patryk Iwaniec, the leader of the underground miners’ protest at PG “Silesia” in Czechowice-Dziedzice, told Niezalezna.pl. He added: “I heard from the employer: ‘This isn’t for the protest, Mr. Patryk—you violated workplace regulations.’ I’ve served three terms on the management board of NSZZ ‘Solidarity’ at PG ‘Silesia,’ but I’ve never seen times as hard as these.”
Tomorrow, February 10, at 1:45 p.m., trade union members are planning a picket outside PG “Silesia,” the largest privately owned coal mine in Poland, to protest the dismissals of miners which—according to the unions—constitute a breach of the agreement of December 29 last year and a violation of workers’ rights.
Let us recall that the December 29, 2025 agreement was signed by the social side, the employer—company Bumech, the owner of “Silesia”—and the government, represented by Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka from Donald Tusk government. A key point of the agreement was that there would be no layoffs at the plant and that participants in the underground protest—nearly 20 miners—would not face reprisals. Today, lawyers affiliated with NSZZ Solidarność held consultations to assist those dismissed from the mine; another session is planned for Wednesday.
“That magical word—‘all’—has disappeared”
“Ultimately, 150 people are to be laid off; 40–50 have already received notices. I’m unable to provide detailed information because I’m being kept in the dark,” said Grzegorz Babij, head of the Inter-Enterprise Trade Union Organization of NSZZ “Solidarity” at PG “Silesia,” in an interview with Niezalezna.pl.
“This is a breach of the December 29 agreement. Moreover, on January 23 this year, two trade unions operating at ‘Silesia’ signed a new agreement with the employer—behind the backs of ‘Solidarity’ and the Mine Rescue Workers’ Union. That document includes a provision stating that after leasing the mine, Bumech would also ‘take over its employees.’ However, the crucial word we fought so hard for in Katowice on December 29—‘all’—has disappeared. It’s not in the new agreement, which is vile and underhanded. As a result, the employer now claims it has the ability to carry out layoffs. I—and our lawyers—disagree. We believe the December agreement is the one that matters. These issues will end up in court, as will the termination cases. There will be no class action; cases will be heard individually, as employees received different forms of notice,” he added.
“The employer was looking for dirt on me”
Patryk Iwaniec, leader of the underground miners’ protest, was among the first to receive notice.
“The employer was looking for dirt on me. I was also reprimanded for allegedly insulting two other union leaders who signed that pseudo-agreement behind closed doors. I was told: ‘This isn’t for the protest, Mr. Patryk—you violated workplace regulations.’ I appealed the decision. From the start, my life was made difficult. Right after returning from the protest, my crew was changed; later I learned the company president was checking whether I had left my workstation. A lawyer told me that if, as a member of the NSZZ ‘Solidarity’ board, I expressed an opinion in a closed group about the harmful actions of other unions, I did nothing wrong—I even had a duty to inform the workforce. I used colorful mining-and-union language; someone leaked it and passed it on to members of the other two unions.
“That’s not the end of the problems. I’m banned from entering the mine—even to collect personal belongings. All that’s missing is the ‘militia’! The ‘Solidarity’ office has already been cut off from telecommunications. We’re being surveilled; our guys are getting strange text messages from the employer. I don’t know what kind of country we live in. I have a family, and if I don’t pay the rent, we’ll end up on the street. Each of us put something on the line for the common good, and now it’s turned out differently. On February 13 there will be another round of talks at the Ministry of Energy. I’m exhausted—since December 21, when I left home for a night shift, I didn’t come back for Christmas because I was leading the protest; constantly on the front line. Nearly two months now. This is my third term on the ‘Solidarity’ board at PG ‘Silesia,’ and I’ve never seen times as hard as these.”
“We cannot keep subsidizing the mine indefinitely”
We asked Jonasz Drabek, president of Bumech, about the layoffs and alleged reprisals against underground protest participants.
“(…) We are a private company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. We cannot act to the detriment of the company,” wrote Kinga Dubrawska of Bumech in a response. “We want to continue extraction, but we cannot keep subsidizing the mine indefinitely. We understand that union members look with envy at colleagues in state-owned mining companies, where strikes can last for months and new demands keep coming—because there a minister will show up and pour in hundreds of millions of zlotys. Our alternative is closure of the plant and mass layoffs. As a commercial-law company, we seek only equal treatment. Equality before the law and non-discrimination in economic life are constitutional rights. (…) We regard the actions of representatives of one of the trade unions as an abuse of trust with respect to the agreements concluded.”
Fewer job offers
Employees of PG “Silesia” are primarily residents of municipalities in Bielsko County and the cities of Bielsko-Biała and Tychy. The local labor market is difficult. The former Fiat plant in Tychy (now Stellantis) has been downsizing, and its former facility in Bielsko-Biała no longer exists. Last year there were also layoffs at Hutchinson in Żywiec and Bielsko-Biała. According to the District Labor Office in Bielsko-Biała, the number of new job offers is shrinking, especially in production roles.
NSZZ “Solidarity” chairman Grzegorz Babij remains in constant contact with the Chancellery of President Karol Nawrocki. An amendment to the mining law—promised by President Nawrocki to the miners of “Silesia”—has already been submitted to parliamentary proceedings. This would give miners a chance to benefit from protective measures and relocation to other mines, such as those operated by Polska Grupa Górnicza.