Mutiny in Sosnowiec. They don’t want to slap poverty. They are asking the government to mediate

Atmosphere at two plants in Sosnowiec that produce plastic parts, incl. For Fiat It has been tense for several months. As our interlocutors – painters and trade unions – told us, people are tired and independent Because of low wages. Some crew members quit their jobs themselves because their conditions were better elsewhere. Several people were fired for “disrupting the production cycle”.

– Who can, take extra jobs after work, because too Naked salary is impossible to survive. Painters earn extra money at nearby auto and body shops – Jerzy Orman, member of the Solidarity union at Sosnovich Prima, tells us.

Orman also says they stopped two weeks ago. The whole factory. In total, there was no work for five days. Work is back now and even the production machines came from Slovakia and with them – we haven’t seen in Sosnowiec for a long time – Italian owner of Prima manufacturers, industry magnate Maurizio Stirpe. He bought plants from PCMA Group in 2020, but it is rarely seen in Poland.

– Our bosses told us that they will expand the field of machines, because the production of the new Fiat model will begin in the fall. At Fiat itself, which is our main recipient, people have already increased several hundred zlotys per month per person. And we still hear there’s no money for anything, Orman sighs.

The union says that talk of the increases has been going on since last fall and there is no end in sight. In March of this year. The company’s board informed them that they could give them 1.5 PLN per hour more (plus 0.63 PLN at a rate of PLN 17.87). Trade unions want another 3.5 PLN. They claim that hourly wages at other auto companies in the region are more than PLN 4 per hour higher.

However, the Italians withdrew the proposal for increases recentlyThey want to freeze the date of further talks at least until October. At that time, the new production line can also start.

However, the people at the factory did not want and could not wait any longer. The cost of living has risen sharply. Few of the production workers were able to make ends meet.

My friends come to me complaining about the lost kindergarten fees. They are asking for financial support. It’s insulting that employees with 25 years of experience can’t afford the base fee and they earn the same new fee, without any experience (we’re just different from the internship bonus) – Agnieszka Marcińska, Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Solidarity” at Prima Companies in Sosnowiec, is nervous.

Our interviewer adds that her hourly wage is also PLN 17.87 per hour plus 23 percent of the bonus and production allowance of PLN 80 and she has an allowance for one year – a maximum of PLN 436.04 per month. According to Marcińska, 94 people receive the lowest hourly wages (as of March 31, 2022). If wages are raised by PLN 3.5 total, these employees will receive about PLN 588 total per month.

– The president said there are problems caused by the epidemic, and we stayed about three months in 2020 during the epidemic. There is also a trace of this assistance in the tax office, which deferred the payment of company taxes in a total amount of more than 200,000 PLN. zloty. In 2021, Prima was discontinued due to a shortage of semiconductors.

The owner of both manufacturers, Maurizio Stirpe, is a famous figure in Italy and an industrial entrepreneur – he inherited his company from his father. The consortium deals mainly with the design and production of plastic components and parts for the automotive and home appliances sector.

Stripe owns several factories, including. In Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, Slovakia and Poland. In June 2020, the Italian Minister of Economy Giving Stripe a Business Ethics Special Benefits Order – “Job Knight”.

As we found out, in 2019, Prima offered electricians at their Italian plants a basic salary – 1,353 euros per month. Currently, In Italian industry, the average wage for skilled workers is 1,788 euros per month. Sosnowiec factory employees estimated that they earn around 600 euros a month.

Last year, a plastic auto parts manufacturing company Prima’s individual components obtained a loan of 125 million euros from the guarantee facility of the Italian Bank Presented by SACE (a subsidiary of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group specializing in credit insurance, investment protection and financial guarantees) to support Italian companies affected by the crisis caused by the pandemic.

On Thursday morning, we sent emails to both the Polish and Italian headquarters of the company with questions and a request for a possible interview with the company’s management. We asked what is happening in the factory and is there a chance of an agreement with the workers? We also contacted the factory several times. But until the article was published, we had not received a response. We will post it as soon as we receive it.

Trade unions announce that He will send a request to the Ministry of Family and Social Policy with a request to appoint a mediator to help them end the dispute with the employer. After all, the owner of the factory is the knight of work.

– It must be understood that people want to live in dignity for their hard work, and not just vegetation – concludes Marcińska.