JSW SA - Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa SA

In spite of the termination effective from 1 January 2010 of the Company-Level Collective Bargaining Agreements (“CCBA”), due to the provisions of individual employment agreements and the JSW agreements of 5 May 2011, JSW still applies the provisions of 6 Company-Level Collective Bargaining Agreements (CCBA KWK Borynia, CCBA KWK Budryk, CCBA KWK Jas-Mos, CCBA KWK Pniówek, CCBA KWK Zofiówka, CCBA ZLM) and of the Bylaws of Remuneration for Employees of JSW Board Office. Moreover, due to the takeover of employees of KWK Knurów-Szczygłowice under art. 231 of Labor Code, JSW applies with regard to those employees the provisions resulting from individual employment agreements and Agreement of 20 December 2004 concluded between the Management Board of Kompania Węglowa and Trade Union Organizations.

Work on agreeing and implementing a new CCBA for JSW employees have continued since JSW was established, i.e. 1 April 1993. The work intensified from 2009. The employer presented to social partners proposals of CCBA for JSW employees, however, due to differences of opinion between the Management Board and the trade unions on essential matters a CCBA has not been developed until now.

In February 2016 negotiations concerning CCBA were resumed again. Trade union organizations “Jedność” at a meeting in March 2016 questioned the representativeness of trade union organizations i.e. ZOK NSZZ “Solidarność” JSW, Federacja ZZG JSW, ZZ Kadra Pracowników JSW and ZOK ZZ “Kontra”, moving for suspension of the negotiations of CCBA until the court issues a ruling on the representativeness of the aforementioned organizations. The work on the CCBA was not discontinued and on 7 April 2016, further negotiations were held. At the meeting ZOK NSZZ “Solidarność” JSW, Federacja ZZG JSW, ZZ Kadra Pracowników JSW and ZOK ZZ “Kontra” moved to suspend the negotiations on the grounds that:

• the aforementioned trade union organizations applied to the court for ascertaining their representativeness in connection with the letter sent by company trade union organizations ZZ “Jedność” to ZOK NSZZ “Solidarność” JSW, Federacji ZZG JSW, ZZ Kadra Pracowników JSW and ZOK ZZ “Kontra” on ascertaining representativeness in conformity with the Labor Code,
• some trade union organizations made public the information on contents of the conducted negotiations, which breaches art. 241³ § 1 of the Labor Code, which reads that “Each party is obliged to conduct negotiations in good faith and in respect of legitimate interests of the other party..”.

Bearing in mind the proper course of the negotiations on the CCBA, the Employer agreed to the aforementioned request and suspended the negotiations until the time the court declares that these trade union organizations satisfy the representativeness criterion. After presentation by ZOK NSZZ “Solidarność” JSW, ZZ “Kadra” Pracowników JSW and Federacja ZZG JSW of the rulings of the District Court in Jastrzębie-Zdrój ascertaining representativeness of those organizations, the JSW Management Board in a letter of 14 June 2017 informed the Trade Unions of this fact, proposing to resume the interrupted negotiations from the month of July 2017.

On 31 July 2017, a meeting was held to resume the adjourned negotiations and work out a general framework and rules applicable to the development of the CCBA. The JSW Management Board suggested that by 14 August 2017 the trade unions submit to the employer a written notice on the composition of the team selected to represent the social side in the negotiations. Not all the trade unions responded to the suggestion of the JSW Management Board. Those that did submit their written remarks on the arrangements of 31 July 2017 expressed their willingness to actively participate in the negotiations on the CCBA. Another meeting to discuss the issue of negotiations was held on 31 August 2017. However, during the meeting the trade unions stated that the meeting was not legally valid due to the absence of at least one of the representative trade union organizations, which is necessary in accordance with art. 24125 § 3 of the Labor Code.

At the initiative of the representative trade union organizations in JSW, negotiations on the CCBA were held on 22 and 28 August 2017 and 4, 11 and 14 September 2017, during which issues related to the construction of a wage scale were discussed. The employer was represented by the team appointed for the conduct of negotiations on the CCBA for JSW employees in accordance with a decision adopted by the JSW Management Board on 9 May 2017. On the trade union side the following organizations participated in the negotiations: ZOK NSZZ “Solidarność” JSW SA, ZZ “Kadra” Pracowników JSW and Federacja ZZG JSW.

In a letter of 12 September 2017 the JSW Management Board was informed about the appointment of the JSW Common Representation of Trade Unions (“JSW WRZZ”) to negotiate the CCBA, consisting of Trade Unions “Jedność”, ZZ “Wsparcie”, ZZRG in Poland, ZOK ZZG in Poland and ZZ “Kadra” Budryk. At the same time, the JSW Management Board and the representative trade union organizations were invited by WRZZ JSW to cooperate in the crafting of the CCBA. The following meeting was held on 22 September 2017. The employer invited all trade union organizations operating in JSW to the meeting, however the trade unions attending it did not enter into the discussions but submitted to the JSW Management Board their position in which they demanded joint negotiations in the presence of the representative trade union organizations. By letter of 6 October 2017, the JSW Management Board again invited all trade union organizations operating in JSW to attend the meeting to be held on 16 October 2017 to negotiate the CCBA. The trade union organizations present at the meeting again did not engage in talks on CCBA and again explained this fact by the absence of representative organizations. The meeting was attended by attorney at law Anna Gwiazda from the Law Firm Kochański, Zięba i Partnerzy Sp. z o.o. with its registered office in Warsaw, who tried to clarify the doubts of the trade unions present at the meeting with regard to legal issues, however, the trade union organizations were not interested. In connection with the impossibility to address the matters raised in the letter of the trade union organizations of 22 September 2017 and at the meeting on 16 October 2017, the JSW Management Board on 20 October 2017 sent a letter to the trade unions, where it presented its position upholding the will to continue the negotiations on concluding the CCBA, simultaneously declaring its willingness to engage in dialogue with all representatives of trade union organizations who join the negotiations. On 3 November 2017 the Warsaw law firm Kochański, Zięba i Partnerzy Sp. z o.o. emailed a draft CCBA for JSW employees. In the letter of 8 November 2017 the JSW Common Representation of Trade Unions sent to the employer a draft CCBA, and in the letter of 21 November 2017 informed the JSW Management Board that from 14 to 20 November 2017 a referendum was held among the employees in individual mines of the Company concerning support for the draft CCBA developed by the Common Representation of Trade Unions at JSW SA, in which over 50 % of JSW SA employees participated, of which 98.93% supported the draft CCBA. Therefore, the Common Representation of Trade Unions demands commencement of negotiations on the presented draft.

In connection with the letter of the representative trade union organizations in JSW dated 5 December 2016 regarding renegotiation of the Agreement entered into pursuant to Articles 91 and 231a of the Labor Code on 16 September 2015 in the part pertaining to: the rules for calculation and payment of the Miner’s Day bonus, suspension of payment of the 14th salary and suspension of the entitlement to the free coal allowance, on 8 and 19 December 2016 meetings were held with delegates of the representative trade union organizations in JSW during which the JSW Management Board presented to the trade unions its analysis of JSW’s current financial standing and the assumptions for the Technical and Economic Plan for 2017. The parties met again on 4, 18 and 24 January and 3 February 2017. Finally, on 9 February 2017 an agreement was signed between the JSW Management Board and representative trade union organizations in JSW, based on which on 6 March 2017 the JSW employees were paid the so-called “One-off bonus”. Moreover, starting from 1 March 2017 the Employer undertook to revalue job ranks for up to 10% employees of individual JSW Plants.

On 18 October 2017 the JSW Management Board and representative trade union organizations in JSW signed an Agreement in which they waived the provisions of §3 of the Agreement dated 16 September 2015 regarding the rules for calculation of Miners’ Day bonus. Therefore, all rights and constraints to becoming eligible for the bonus, rules for calculation and dates of payment were identical as those for the Miners’ Day bonus for 2014. At the same time, on 18 October 2017 the Agreement was signed between the JSW Management Board and representative trade union organizations in JSW on the rules for compensation for work on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. On 8 November 2017 the parties signed a new Agreement modifying the aforementioned rules.

In a letter of 2 November 2017 the Representative Trade Union Organizations JSW requested the JSW Management Board to waive the provisions of §3 of the Agreement dated 16 September 2015 regarding payment of the 14th salary and free coal allowance. On 23 November 2017 the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW demanded the JSW Management Board (in accordance with art. 7 of the Act of 23 May 1991 on resolution of collective disputes) to pay to the Company employees the 14th salary and free coal allowance for 2017 and the following years on the date and rules valid in 2014. At the same time, in a letter of 23 November 2017 the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW requested the Minister of Energy Krzysztof Tchórzewski to appoint urgently a meeting on said matter. In a letter of 24 November 2017, the JSW Management Board invited representatives of the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW to a meeting regarding the demand of 23 November 2017 held on 1 December 2017. On 5 December 2017, the JSW Management Board and the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW signed an Agreement in which they waived the provisions of §3.1 and §3.3 of the Agreement dated 16 September 2015 regarding payment of the 14th salary and free coal allowance. Therefore, said benefits will be paid on the rules applied before the Agreement was concluded. Moreover, on 6 December 2017, the JSW Management Board and the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW signed another Agreement regulating the issue of names of the benefits and other non-periodical payments.

In connection with the performance of the Agreement of 5 December 2017 on reinstatement of the free coal allowance, on 27 December 2017 an Agreement was signed between the JSW Management Board and the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW concerning uniform rules of provision of the free coal allowance for all JSW employees.

Moreover, as a result of the Agreement of 5 December 2017 regarding payment of the 14th salary for 2017, on 27 December 2017 another Agreement was signed between the JSW Management Board and the Representative Trade Union Organizations in JSW, under which all JSW employees employed in 2017 without a break, immediately after termination of employment at JSW SIG (i.e. employees who terminated their employment at JSW SIG in order to start work at JSW) are entitled to the 14th salary for 2017 in proportion to the time of their work at JSW.

On 19 January 2017, a meeting was held related to a collective dispute initiated by the trade unions operating in KWK Krupiński in respect of the claims articulated in the letter dated 12 January 2017 concerning:

• Immediate inclusion of appropriate provisions into the terms of the employment contracts of those members of staff who signed their employment contracts after the date of JSW’s IPO. The said terms were agreed on in the collective bargaining agreement entered into under Article 9 § 1 of the Labor Code on 5 May 2011 between JSW and the Trade Union Organizations (in §1 item 2). To date, JSW has failed to fulfill the provisions of the agreement, which constitutes a serious breach of the working conditions of its employees.
• Immediate commencement of disbursement of the “standardization benefit” resulting from the so-called payroll standardization effected in 2010. This is the fulfillment of the general principle of equal pay conditions for JSW staff in respect of members of rescue teams performing preventive works in various mines. It is unacceptable that some rescue teams receive both bonuses while other rescue teams receive only that which is higher in value. This is an obvious breach of the principle of equal treatment in respect of the conditions of work and pay. The employer may not treat the same professional group differently. That is the case of discrimination against a certain professional group resulting from the work (plant) where work is performed.
• Immediate withdrawal from the system of granting bonuses to senior maintenance supervisors involving depriving them of the “incentive bonus” in cases of performing work entrusted by the superior (on behalf of the employer) on the surface without obtaining remuneration for underground work. This kind of work results from the scope of responsibility of senior underground maintenance supervisors and clearly breaches the conditions of pay (introduces wage discrimination) for employees. According to other occupational safety regulations, senior underground maintenance supervisors are required to perform assignments associated with the creation of documentation, manuals, technologies and ongoing monitoring of their use.

During the meeting, the trade unions clarified and explained in greater detail their demands while maintaining their position. The JSW Management Board took the stance that the subject matter of the dispute concerns all JSW employees, which means that the party to discuss this issue with the employer should be trade unions representing all staff.

On 7 February 2017, another meeting took place, during which the trade unions presented their final position to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2017. The parties to the dispute met again on 16 and 24 February 2017. The 24 February 2017 meeting ended with the signing of a discrepancy report. On 1 March 2017, the trade unions proposed Dariusz Trzcionka and Jerzy Krynicki to discharge the function of the mediator. The JSW Management Board refused to accept the proposal submitted by the trade unions and, on 8 March 2017, decided to send a request to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy to select a mediator from the Ministry’s list of mediators. On 9 March 2017, the said request to select a mediator was sent to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. At the same time, by letter of 9 March 2017, the Employer informed the trade union organizations operating in KWK Krupiński of the Management Board’s decision regarding the mediator.

By letter of 21 March 2017, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy appointed Mr. Jerzy Nowak as the mediator in the collective dispute. By letter of 27 March 2017, the trade union organizations operating in KWK Krupiński informed the Employer of the termination of the collective dispute initiated on 12 January 2017. The trade union organizations stated in the above mentioned letter that in connection with handing over KWK Krupiński to SRK as of 1 April 2017 “after that date the dispute becomes irrelevant and in that case the trade union organizations cease the dispute“.

On 1 June 2017 there was a meeting of the JSW Management Board and representatives of representative trade union organizations. During the meeting an Agreement was signed on the realization of the Company Social Benefit Fund in 2017 in connection with handing over KWK Krupiński to SRK. The decision was made for JSW’s other organizational units to utilize the resources in the Krupiński mine’s Company Social Benefit Fund.

On 28 June 2017, the JSW Management Board and representative trade union organizations in JSW signed an agreement under which the following was agreed value of the prevention meal effective as of 1 July 2017 will be PLN 19 and that a net cash bonus of PLN 4,300 will be paid on 4 September 2017 to all JSW employees holding employment status on 31 August 2017.

On 29 June 2017 ZZ „Jedność” Pracowników JSW in KWK Pniówek organized a public assembly in the Pawłowice Township. Approximately 60 persons took part in this assembly. In their letter of 29 June 2017 the representatives of this public assembly sent a petition to the Minister of Energy on behalf of the JSW employees, mining families and retired miners participating in the assembly to demand:

• Suspension of the regulations pertaining to the introduction of a replacement temperature for the climate and reinstatement of the previous labor rules in elevated temperatures.
• Payment of the illegally-suspended 14th salary to all employees employed in JSW.
• Payment of overtime to all JSW employees at the employer’s disposal underground in connection with the illegal extension of working time in the period from February 2015 to September 2015.
• Retraction of the JSW Management Board’s resolution illegally suspending the payment of the free coal allowance to all retired miners and former JSW employees.
• Reinstatement of the free coal allowance for all employees hired by JSW.
• Reinstatement of wages for JSW employees for working on Saturdays and Sundays according to the pre-2015 rules.
• Cessation of violating labor law in JSW taking the form of dividing the Saint Barbara Miner’s Festival bonus into tranches.

On 5 June 2017 there was a meeting with representatives of ZOK ZZRG in Poland in order to define and clarify issues concerning equal remuneration of members of rescue crews for the term of their secondment to OSRG and for participation in a rescue action regardless of whether they are remunerated according to CCBA rules or under the so-called „new employment agreements”. At the meeting on 5 July 2017 representatives of ZOK ZZRG in Poland stated that the lack in the new employment agreements of a rescue allowance, allowance participation in a rescue action, allowance for exercises in the working machine and for work in the machine during a rescue action discouraged people from working as rescuers.

The employer explained that the employer on its own was unable to adjust the rules of paying to the rescue crews, since agreement with trade unions was needed. It is possible to unify the rules of paying members of rescue crews under the work on the CCBA for JSW employees or if the work on the CCBA becomes protracted through an agreement with the trade union party to unify the rules for paying rescuers.

As a consequence, the representatives of ZOK ZZRG in Poland will prepare their own proposal on the basis of the Attachment to the CCBA to be presented to the Employer during the next meeting. It will be a proposal for talks during the work on the CCBA for JSW employees.

On 23 August 2017, the JSW Management Board signed an agreement with the representative trade union organizations in JSW on the need to ensure the inflow of young staff to the Parent Company’s mines in order to avoid the ‘generation gap’. Under pertinent agreements which will be signed with the local authorities of various cities, towns and townships, JSW will, to the extent possible, provide vocational training in the form of practical courses for students attending vocational schools preparing them for mining professions and, depending on its own needs for labor force, may employ graduates who will successfully pass examinations confirming their professional qualifications.