The protest will take place on Friday, at around 2:10 p.m.
Trade union members are organizing a demonstration outside Zakłady Ceramiczne „Bolesławiec”. According to them, the employer has introduced changes concerning remuneration. Employees working under a time/hourly system are treated differently from those working under a piece-rate system. The latter are allegedly treated poorly—more than half of them do not even earn the minimum wage. (They receive top-up payments.)
They emphasize that, in connection with the termination of the collective labor agreement, the employer is to eliminate various allowances, including seniority and hazardous-work allowances. Hourly employees do not lose out as a result of the changes, while piece-rate employees are expected to earn additional funds in the form of bonuses. However, as the chairwoman of the Związek Zawodowy Pracowników Zakładów Ceramicznych „Bolesławiec” Agata Rusiecka emphasizes, all remuneration-related matters should have been agreed with the trade union members. This was not done.
The trade union members do not agree with differentiating between employees. They also object to the fact that the employer has not defined work standards, arbitrarily controlling wages. According to our interviewee, employees are now expected to work faster. This also concerns people with 20–30 years of experience. The reason? In the chairwoman’s opinion, the employer values its employees’ work too low.
This situation concerns approximately 250 people who work under a piece-rate system. According to A. Rusiecka, the number of people receiving top-up payments to reach the minimum wage is increasing year by year.
This state of affairs has reportedly continued for several years. Agata Rusiecka says that the trade union members reported the matter to the Labor Inspectorate, which agreed with them.
Several dozen people are expected to take part in the demonstration. The trade union members are demanding equal treatment and also want talks on the remuneration regulations to resume.
We were unable to contact the company’s president by phone. We therefore sent questions by email. We will publish the response as soon as we receive it.