The offer to purchase the Thermal Energy Plant was submitted to the City Hall at the end of December last year. The bidder was “Energetyka” sp. z o.o., belonging to the KGHM Polska Miedź SA Capital Group.
– The offer came from “Energetyka” and found favorable ground because the privatization issue had been considered carefully – says Piotr Roman. – I read specialist literature and talked about the processes taking place in the country. By 2010, 51% of heating plants in Poland had been privatized, and this trend is growing. Not all privatizations are good, but in the case of district heating, a monopolist cannot, for example, raise prices at will because they are controlled by a government agency (the Energy Regulatory Office) – the mayor adds.
The company’s president, Wiesław Ogrodnik, also believed that privatizing ZEC could benefit both the city and the company’s employees. – The city has never benefited from being the company’s owner, so it could benefit from its sale – says Ogrodnik. – Privatization can also have a human face. I presented the employees with specific proposals to secure their pay and employment. I would understand if the main reason for their firm opposition were the generally bad privatizations in Poland. I do not understand their concerns about employment, wages or increases in energy prices – he adds.
At a New Year’s meeting with employees, the mayor, as he puts it, “took a beating” over the idea of privatizing the municipal plant. The staff were concerned about his earlier visit to ZEC with representatives of the company’s new potential buyer. – The mayor said that I would be better off – recounts company employee Marek Lisiewski. – I told the mayor that I do not want to be better off; I want to be doing well. ZEC is not the mayor’s property; it is an inheritance from our fathers. What else can be sold in this country? Why did the mayor not tell us before the election that he wanted to privatize ZEC? – the employee asks.
In February, employees rejected the privatization proposal in a referendum. Earlier, they had visited the Legnica Voivodeship Thermal Energy Enterprise, privatized by “Energetyka,” and learned about ways to guarantee employment levels, a privatization bonus and the investor’s repurchase of shares. But neither the visit to the enterprise nor the president’s assurances convinced the employees to change their minds.
– The shares offered to us (15%) do not guarantee great profits – says Lisiewski. – What good is it that I will receive shares worth 11,000? Someone has to buy them back from me. They are just figures on paper calculated by the president. The shares have no value for me. We were afraid that, when it came down to it, the private owner would take away all our benefits, bonuses and thirteenth salaries, because that is how companies generate profits. There may be no layoffs, but why could they not reduce the workforce? – he adds.
The mayor declares that he will return to the subject only if the staff want privatization. – I do not like doing things at any cost; changes of this kind take time – says the mayor. – I do not have to sell anything for next to nothing, because there is a debt to repay. “Energetyka” was a guarantor of good employment, a reliable company capable of investing. For the city, this would mean moving closer to the copper basin and the wealthier Legnica region. But for 20 years, we have seen how privatization is carried out in Poland. The media bombard us with reports of bad privatizations, when there is a scandal and people are left out on the street. This must arouse serious concerns.
The employees say they do not want their lives to be decided once again by a single person who can sell the workplace to which they and their families have devoted their lives. They trust neither politicians, nor the president, nor private companies. The mayor emphasizes that he will not be around forever and that his successor may have different goals, while a buyer as good as this one may never appear again.
– People are afraid of change – says Roman. – Privatization could prove beneficial both for employees and for ZEC customers. In my opinion, customers would receive better service because a larger company can achieve more. I also believe that the management played a major role in the whole matter. I explained to people that no one would dismiss specialist employees, but there would probably be changes to the supervisory board. The question is whether the staff’s decision was not largely prompted by certain members of the management? – the mayor adds.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)