By Alicja Surdy (Reuters) -An internal survey at Polish coal miner JSW showed more than 6,000 employees were interested in a planned workforce reduction, almost double the number eligible for the
JSW's Workforce Reduction Plan Attracts High Worker Interest
By Alicja Surdy
(Reuters) -An internal survey at Polish coal miner JSW showed more than 6,000 employees were interested in a planned workforce reduction, almost double the number eligible for the scheme, acting CEO Boguslaw Oleksy said on Wednesday.
The plan, contingent on a new mining law, aims to cut jobs via two main routes: a "mining leave", a state-supported paid furlough leading to retirement, for over 3,100 workers, and voluntary severance packages for another 700, Oleksy said.
The high interest in the programme comes as JSW faces a deepening cash crunch, with Oleksy saying its stabilization fund was "on the verge of depletion", forcing it to seek new external financing as it continues to post quarterly losses.
The broader cost-cutting plan also includes selling non-core assets, merging mines into two "mining centres" to improve efficiency, and lifting a 10-year job guarantee for about 1,000 administrative staff, the company said.
Oleksy said negotiations with unions related to cuts in other benefits, carried out in parallel with the job-cutting plans, were "extremely difficult."
JSW staff are represented by more than 80 trade unions, with a unionization rate of nearly 170% as employees can belong to multiple organizations, which is complicating the talks.
(Reporting by Alicja Surdy;Additional reporting by Rafal Nowak;Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
