Uncertainty among PKP Cargo employees. Will the southern plant be closed?

At the end of June of this year, the company's management proposed that employees waive some of their benefits under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and replace them with a performance-based incentive system. The goal was to avoid mass layoffs. The agreement is in effect until mid-2026; waiving or eliminating the most costly elements of this agreement – ​​in the opinion of the company's management – ​​would enable savings comparable to those of the planned workforce reductions in 2025. This involved eliminating elements that exceed the Labor Code, such as higher sick pay than those stipulated in the Labor Code, or longer notice periods for termination of employment contracts for reasons unrelated to the employees.

PKP Cargo recently announced that it had not received a response from trade unions to its proposed reductions in the collective bargaining agreement by July 31st of this year, and is therefore initiating mass layoffs. These layoffs will last until September 30th of this year and will affect up to 765 employees...