On Monday, around 6:00 am, a general strike began at the Solaris Bus & Coach factory in Bolechowo near Poznań. The collective dispute in the company had been going on for several months. In January, a strike referendum was held, in which 1,342 people voted, i.e. 51.7 percent. entitled. The general strike was supported by 1,244 people, i.e. 92.7 percent. voters. “This is an unambiguous and overwhelming result. It gives us a strong mandate for further actions “- wrote unionists.
Solaris Bus & Coach sp. Z oo is one of the largest European producers of buses and trolleybuses. The company – from 2018 belonging to the Spanish CAF group – employs approx. 2,600 people. As trade unionists point out, recent years have been good for the company. Profit in 2020 – PLN 108.5 million – was the highest in history. The revenues were also record-breaking – PLN 3.08 billion.
“Our demands were quite modest: PLN 400 pay rise for everyone in 2021 and the same in 2022. The employer consistently rejected this. Its aim was to direct the stream of increases to appreciate specialists and managers. During these months, a disinformation campaign was also carried out, “bottom-up” lists of employees were created, the management itself between the lines scared employees that if the trade unions did not accept mini-increases, there would be no “- informs on Facebook OPZZ Confederation of Labor, co-organizer of the strike next to NSZZ “Solidarność”.
Solaris Statement
“The employer fully respects the right of trade unions to strike (…) At the same time, we deeply regret that the Union side decided to take, in our opinion, disproportionate actions, such as the decision to strike. From the very beginning, at every stage of the negotiations, the trade union side showed an apparent willingness to talk and work out an agreement, unilaterally ending individual negotiation phases after only two meetings “- we read in statement board of Solaris, issued before the official start of the strike.
“On January 14, the employer unilaterally granted all employees of the company a 5 percent increase. remuneration (minimum PLN 270 gross, which with bonuses means approximately PLN 340 gross). An additional group of around 800 direct production workers received an additional raise – this applies to electricians, welders, painters and foremen. It is part of the basic salary. Increases of this amount mean a total company-wide increase in the salary budget by nearly PLN 17 million per year. Let us also recall that in the last three years, Solaris has allocated a total of over PLN 60 million (accumulated) to pay raises for its employees. The result of the strike referendum will not change the decision on the increases granted, ”announces the management board.
Trade unions do not accept these arguments.
“The wages of manual workers in blue-collar positions in the Bolechowo hall are low. Not much more than the minimum wage – PLN 2,900.3,000 net. Meanwhile, Solaris, like the entire industrial sector in Poland, is doing very well. In 2020, the company recorded a profit of PLN 100 million, ”says Piotr Ostrowski, vice-president of OPZZ in an interview with OKO.press. – “800 PLN gross was the starting proposal for increases. In the course of the negotiations, the employees dropped from this amount by half. It turned out that PLN 400 is still too much, according to the management board. However, this proposal is no longer available. The union returned to its original demands for a PLN 800 increase ”.
Left: Workers lose because of inflation
On Monday, politicians and women from the Left supported the trade union hall in the hall. In the hall appeared, among others Adrian Zandberg and Maciej Konieczny from Together and Katarzyna Ueberhan and Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk from Nowa Left.
