Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
THE POLITICS OF LABOUR MARKET ADJUST-<br />
MENT IN POST-1989 POLAND<br />
and re-employment). Dismissed employees<br />
would receive redundancy payments of up to<br />
three months wage. Under the influence of<br />
powerful unions, restructuring plans involved<br />
intense negotiations and complex agreements.<br />
As an example, in the years 1994-1997,<br />
under the threat that the miners’ unions<br />
would block the restructuring of the whole<br />
sector, particularly generous social packages<br />
were granted in the form of significant<br />
one-off severance payments 13 . The mining<br />
sector provides an interesting illustration of<br />
negotiated compensation. Concentrated in<br />
Upper Silesia, 14 the mines and steelworks<br />
had a tradition of strong local trade unions<br />
and better than average welfare entitlements;<br />
they enjoyed more state support than<br />
elsewhere. Restructuring was contentious,<br />
for employees were strongly attached to the<br />
mines, which gave access to various benefits<br />
and social institutions. As a result, dialogue<br />
and coordination among the social partners<br />
was high on the agenda. In spring of 1995,<br />
representatives of socio-political, professional,<br />
local government and economic circles agreed<br />
to cooperate in a program for restructuring<br />
and development in Upper Silesia. A fouryear<br />
reform plan prepared by the Ministry<br />
of Industry in 1996 granted special social<br />
transfers and other subsidies. The regional<br />
leader of Solidarność presented an alternative<br />
scenario calling for more involvement<br />
of the national government and a<br />
page 134 wider consultation of regional and<br />
local actors. The outcome reflected<br />
the traditional power structure of<br />
actors in the region, i.e. the prominence of<br />
industrial actors linked to the largest plants,<br />
which made it difficult to envisage innovative<br />
solutions. Half a dozen successive restructuring<br />
plans were drawn up, but most were never<br />
fully implemented due to industrial conflict.<br />
Nevertheless, the workforce was reduced from<br />
a million people in the 1980’s to a quarter of<br />
this by 2003. Conflicts over collective dismissals<br />
were eventually avoided by granting generous<br />
packages, reflecting the bargaining power of<br />
the miners unions: there were reports of sums<br />
exceeding 10,000 euros to secure a definitive<br />
exit of mining employment (Gardawski 2003).<br />
This contrasts with the steel industry, where<br />
employment was reduced in the same proportion,<br />
but under very different conditions. Until 1998,<br />
jobs were lost principally to retirement or<br />
disability benefits, or transfer to other entities.<br />
In 1999 a social package led to further jobs<br />
reductions, among which slightly less than half<br />
were transferred to other companies and the<br />
rest made redundant (Towalski 2003). In 2003,<br />
a second social package for steelworks, focusing<br />
on activation, was adopted by the government<br />
and endorsed by the sectoral tripartite team.<br />
Its major innovation was to facilitate reemployment<br />
in other industries, by linking<br />
severance payments to enrolment in training<br />
contracts. By Polish standards, restructuring in<br />
the steel sector is an unusually positive example<br />
of working social dialogue in a developmental<br />
perspective. In comparison to the mining sector,<br />
this process was also remarkably peaceful and<br />
conflicts were scarce 15 ; a contrast that can be<br />
traced back both to the different role played<br />
by the unions (obstructing restructuring of the<br />
mines while accepting restructuring in the steel<br />
sector), and to the ultimate objective (closing<br />
down the mines as opposed to reducing<br />
workforce to build smaller, competitive steelmelting<br />
plants).