On Friday, 17 April, a press conference devoted to violations of employees’ rights at the Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre in Bolesławiec was held at the headquarters of the OPZZ District Council. Members of the MOSiR Employees’ Trade Union informed the OPZZ District Council that director Dariusz Jośko had intimidated his employees. They claim that Jośko spied on them, subjected them to mobbing and threatened them with job loss. All because of their membership in the trade union, which was established on 18 March this year. – From that moment, the director began taking steps to eliminate our union – says Franciszek Walski, head of the newly established organisation. – What was the reason? We can only speculate.
The union has 17 members. According to its members, the director spoke with 10 of them. He allegedly asked about their reasons for joining the organisation. On 16 April, he proposed that two union members move to lower positions.
Józef Hyjek, a union member, has a fixed-term contract. – The director suggested that he might not extend my contract – he says. – I asked him how trade unions bothered him. He replied that they are always opposition to the employer.
A similar conversation with Jośko was allegedly held by Artur Paszkiewicz, a maintenance worker. – The director told me that I had to remember whose hand was feeding me. I believe that since I work and the company pays me, my own hands are feeding me – he says. – Everyone has the right to join a trade union; we live in a free country. I only want to perform my duties peacefully – he adds.
– We suspected that sooner or later the director would begin eliminating union members – says Franciszek Walski. – He started with Dariusz Kaczorowski [figurował na liście członków związku jako zastępca Walskiego – przyp. red.]. He told him that he could be dismissed in two weeks.
The union members are worried about their future. – In December, the director praised all the employees. Now suddenly we are persona non grata – the union chairman says indignantly. – We did not expect the situation to reach this point. We cannot stand by and wait until the director shoots everyone like ducks. We want him removed from his position.
OPZZ informed, among others, Bolesławiec mayor Piotr Roman about the entire matter (the District Council called for Jośko’s immediate dismissal), as well as the Lower Silesian Voivode, the National Labour Inspectorate in Wrocław and MP Ryszard Zbrzyzny. Moreover, the organisation filed a report with the prosecutor’s office. “The statements prepared by employees – members of the trade union – indicate that they are being intimidated because of their union membership and forced to resign from the union,” wrote Mirosław Habel, chairman of the OPZZ District Council, in a letter to the prosecutor’s office.
The director rejects the allegations
– I absolutely did not intimidate anyone – says Dariusz Jośko. – Life has taught me one thing: someone says something, and the other person hears what they want to hear. I did not threaten employees with job loss. MOSiR is just starting its season; dismissing people would not be a good idea. Besides, we still have two vacancies.
The director does admit that he offered two union members lower positions. – I wanted them to focus on specific things that they do well – he says. He adds that he intends to change the organisation of work at the company. All so that the centre can develop.
The director believes the source of the conflict with employees is that he recently began checking more frequently how they work. – It repeatedly turned out that when someone was supposed to be working, they were not doing so. When I arrived and, not finding someone at work, asked where they were, I was accused of spying on employees. But I began these activities before the trade union was established – Jośko stresses.
What next?
Next week, the MOSiR director is scheduled to meet with the union members. – If the union members continue to be subjected to mobbing, they can go to the labour court and seek compensation – says Irena Dul, head of the Bolesławiec District Unemployed Persons’ Association. – And if Mr Jośko’s actions continue to be tolerated by his superiors, it is possible that we will ask trade unions for support and organise a protest – adds Mirosław Habel.
(information ii)