Poles get job guarantees from Chinese

Unions representing 1,200 employees at the Polish steel works HSW have reached a job security agreement with the Chinese company LiuGong, which is hoping to buy the Polish state-owned plant.

The deal guarantees employment for four and a half years. During this period it will only be possible to dismiss an employee if he or she has received two negative performance assessments. In July next year, pay will be increased by 3.0% and all employees will receive a lump-sum payment of 1,500 zł (€345 or £296), paid out in two instalments when the privatisation is completed, probably early next year. Inflation in Poland is 3.9% (September).

Mariusz Kunysz, the main union representative, said: “We focused above all on employment guarantees for the workforce; financial questions were not so significant”.