Trade unions write to Donald Tusk
Eight trade unions from Grupa Azoty Pulawy wrote to Prime Minister Donald Tusk asking for “immediate intervention” in connection with the poor situation in the company. “The current situation of Zakłady Azotowe Puławy is dramatic. We are standing a few millimeters above the abyss” – trade unionists warn in the letter.
The reasons for this situation include “mistakes in the company’s management in recent years” and external factors such as: pandemicWhether outbreak of war in Ukraine. They stressed that this also concerns factors “on which the Polish State has or should have influence”.
“Uncontrolled import of Russian fertilizers”
According to trade unionists “uncontrolled import of Russian fertilizerswhich according to our knowledge are re-exported to Ukraine, import of materials not burdened with climate costs” are the causes of “our tragic economic situation”. “Without the intervention of the Polish State in these areas, we are threatened with bankruptcy” – it was noted.
Termination of the Collective Labour Agreement (ZUZP)
In addition, the NSZZ Solidarność Inter-Enterprise Organization of Grupa Azoty Puławy, the Inter-Enterprise Trade Union of Employees of ZA Puławy, the Trade Union of Continuous Motion Employees of ZA Puławy and the Inter-Enterprise Organization of the Trade Union of Engineers and Technicians at Grupa Azoty ZA Puławy reported in a letter dated September 5 this year addressed to the management board of Grupa Azoty Puławy reservations as to the validity of the termination of the Collective Labour Agreement (ZUZP) of 22 March 2006.
On August 29 this year, the board Grupa Azoty Pulawy informed the trade unions of its intention to terminate the Collective Labour Agreement. The decision was preceded by negotiations in which no common position was reached with the trade unions.
As indicated by the Management Board of Grupa Azoty ZA Puławy, the Collective Agreement will be terminated upon expiry of the three-month notice period, which Grupa Azoty Pulawy will be entitled to file after conducting the negotiation procedure with the unions specified in the Collective Labor Agreement. The Management Board indicated that the procedure will be conducted if the unions, within 7 days of notification of the intention to terminate, file objections to such intention to terminate the Collective Labor Agreement.
The unions indicated that the intention to terminate the Collective Labour Agreement is “directly inconsistent” with the social contract concluded on 15 September 2014 between the company Grupa Azoty in TarnówZakłady Azotowe Puławy, and the company trade unions. The social contract provides that, among others, the Collective Agreement of 22 March 2006 will remain unchanged.
The trade unionists also do not agree to transferring responsibility to the staff for the “lack of proper and effective response of the company’s authorities to the market problems and then financial problems that have been occurring since mid-2022”, which – as the trade unions pointed out – were drawn to by the current management. Grupa Azoty Pulawyinforming the staff on August 29 this year of its intention to terminate the Collective Labour Agreement.
“During the last two months, we have been trying to work out a common position on the Collective Labor Agreement with the union organizations. We have in mind that such agreements were signed in Tarnów, Police and Kędzierzyn-Koźle, where the Union Organizations showed full understanding of the financial situation in which the current management board of Grupa Azoty found the company,” indicated at the end of August the vice-president of Grupa Azoty and at the same time president of Grupa Azoty Puławy Hubert Kamola.
He also pointed out that in all actions and decisions taken, including negotiations on the Collective Labor Agreement, the management board must take into account the schedule implemented in the talks with banks. “Our priority is to reach a long-term agreement with financial institutions and stabilize the financial situation. To achieve this goal, in addition to business activities, it is necessary to optimize costs, including in the area of remuneration within the Capital Group,” Kamola indicated then.
Company financing
August 1 this year Azoty Group signed an annex with financing institutions extending the validity of the agreement regarding the financing of the company until October 11, 2024.
In the first quarter of 2024 Grupa Azoty Nitrogen Plant Puławy had consolidated sales revenues of PLN 902 million (PLN 1,229 million in Q1 2023) and EBITDA of minus PLN 79 million (minus PLN 253 million in Q1 2023), with an EBITDA margin of minus 8.8% (minus 20.6% in Q1 2023) and net loss of PLN 146 million (in Q1 2023 the net loss amounted to PLN 282 million).
Grupa Azoty Puławy is a company belonging to Grupa Azoty, the second largest producer of nitrogen and compound fertilizers in the EU. Grupa Azoty is the only producer of melamine in Poland. It also produces products such as polyamide, OXO alcohols, plasticizers and titanium white. Grupa Azoty is a joint-stock company, in which the State Treasury holds 33 percent of shares. The group also includes: Grupa Azoty Police, Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn, Zakłady Chemiczne Siarkopol. (PAP)
Author: Anna Bytniewska
