Workers at the Fabryka Kabli cable and wire plant in O?arów, Poland, have been taking strike and other action since April 2002 in protest at the decision to close the factory taken by its new owner, Tele-Fonika. In early August 2002, the dispute shows no sign of being resolved.
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Workers at the Fabryka Kabli cable and wire plant in O?arów, Poland, have been taking strike and other action since April 2002 in protest at the decision to close the factory taken by its new owner, Tele-Fonika. In early August 2002, the dispute shows no sign of being resolved.
Fabryka Kabli, a plant manufacturing cables and wires in O?arów, was established in 1929 and in the mid-1970s it was thoroughly modernised, becoming one of the most modern factories of its type in Europe. In May 1995, it was transformed into a single-owner company, and the factory was again modernised and computerised. In January 1998, the Elektrim company purchased a majority stake in the factory, and in March 1999 it combined three Polish cables and wire manufacturers (based in O?arów, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz) into a holding company, Elektrim Kable SA.
In November 2001, the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (Urz?d Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów, UOKiK) gave its assent to a takeover of Elektrim Kable SA by Tele-Fonika SA, one of the biggest producers on the Polish cables and wires market. In 2002, Tele-Fonika began the process of restructuring the company, which includes the closure of the Fabryka Kabli plant in O?arów.
In mid-April 2002, production at O?arów was ended, the machinery was shut down, and the first group of workers was dismissed. A few days later, the Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union (Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Solidarność, NSZZ Solidarność) factory council organised a picket and started a number of road blockades. On the following day, management representatives held a meeting with trade union representatives. The owner demanded that the factory gates should be unblocked and that lorries should be allowed to pass. The unions demanded that the decision to close the factory should be revoked and that the workers should be given a guarantee that they would not be dismissed for a period of five years with unchanged wage conditions. The parties failed to reach a settlement and, in May, NSZZ 'Solidarność' proclaimed a collective labour dispute at the company, demanding that the closure of Fabryka Kabli should be revoked immediately.
The Fabryka Kabli workforce's protest committee claims that the decision of the president of the UOKiK to allow the takeover by Tele-Fonika was political. It claims that the factory was bought by Tele-Fonika in order take over its orders and eliminate competition. The unions have also tried to obtain permission to sell the factory to another investor or to a company set up by themselves. The unions have supported their protests by referring to data published by company management in March 2002, claiming that in 2001 Fabryka Kabli made a profit of PLN 20 million.
The company states that the plant closure reflects the overall situation on the market. It claims that in 2001 the factory showed a loss of PLN 8 million, and that its workers' pay package was excessive, with wages far above the national and regional average. Management considers the workers' protests and the plant blockade illegal.
Concern about the Fabryka Kabli closure goes further than the workforce and unions. The O?arów municipal (gmina) authority and the Western Warsaw higher local (poviat) authority oppose the closure and point to the fact that another large company in O?arów, the Warsaw Glass Works (Warszawska Huta Szk?a), closed in 2000/1. As a result, despite the vicinity of the Warsaw labour market, which might be expected to absorb many of the redundant workers, some of 300 Warsaw Glass Works workers have still not found a job.
The muncipality of O?arów Mazowiecki has a population of around 19,000 people, and Fabryka Kabli is a main employer in the area. On its premises there are a number of plant buildings, a sports stadium, a canteen, a medical clinic, a set of schools and a kindergarten. Currently, it employs slightly over 500 workers, whereas not so long ago it had as many as 2,000 employees, from both O?arów and the neighbouring villages.
The firm position of the trade unions and management are not conducive to a prompt settlement of the dispute, despite the mediation of local authorities. Indeed the protests have intensified - at the beginning of July, the protesters imprisoned for a short time the management of the company. In early August, the conflict had not been resolved.
The Fabryka Kabli dispute is one of many protests related to mass redundancies in Polish companies. More and more frequently, these conflicts affect not only the company but also the local labour market as a whole (PL0207101N). In the light of mounting unemployment (PL0208101N), it is not surprising that the strikers are so determined. Moreover, it is highly probable that the protesters will take increasingly radical measures to promote their cause.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2002), Dispute over closure of Fabryka Kabli, article.
