Beko will lay off 1,800 people. A big protest is coming up in Warsaw

At the beginning of September, the manufacturer of household appliances Beko Europe put forward a plan to optimize its production activities in Poland. It was announced that the production plant in Łódź and the refrigeration factory in Wrocław were closed.

The closure of the production area in Łódź and changes in Wrocław (in terms of production workers and office workers) may affect about 1.8 thousand. careers. Production at these plants is to be completed by the end of April 2025. Other operations: in Radomsko, the Wrocław cooker factory and the Shared Service Center (SSC) in Łódź, as well as domestic commercial operations will remain unchanged .

At 12 Friday in front of the Turkish embassy in Warsaw at ul. An exhibition of Beko employees started at Rakowiecka 19.

“We want jobs, not layoffs” and “Turkey is buying, Poland is poor!” – chanted the workers present at the picket.

Around 100 people take part in the protest. They want to stop the layoffs and a response from the Polish government and the Turkish side.

– Just to be clear, we are not against it Turkey. We are at the embassy until someone helps us, until people pay attention, because if we are told today that we are a non-profit company, we do not agree with it – said Krzysztof Domagała, chairman of MOZ NSZZ “Solidarność” . – If today, from all the data that is given to us continuously, because people send us different types of data from our plant, where they say that the cost of an employee in Poland is EUR 22 , in Romania 25 euros, and the cost of an Italian worker is 100 euros. And I’m not against Italian workers either, because that’s not the point. Just let someone sit down with us and talk honestly, he said. – Today we want someone to sit down with us and talk honestly. We base some things on facts, because that’s how we want to talk, with an emphasis on Domagała. – Well, we are supposed to be a global company, we produce world-class quality, but the performance is a tragedy, because they fire the people who ‘do the best and work best – he said.

– We cannot let these plants be shut down and two thousand people go to waste, said Bartłomiej Mickiewicz, deputy chairman of the National Commission. NSZZ “Solidarity“.

– It is because of the Green Contract and the lack of structural responses of the Polish government that you are losing your job – he said to the builders.

Here is another such complaint. Beko workers in Łódź protested a week ago. They had Solidarity flags, whistles and trumpets, banners with slogans: “We want to work honestly, not on the pavement”, “It was supposed to be honey and milk, but a group was fired from Beko” and boards with the inscriptions: “Single mother”, “Working couple”, “Mortgage loan”, “Pre-retirement age”, “Single breadwinner”.

– In this way, we wanted to show who will lose their job soon. Many of the employees have over 20 years of experience working in these plants. I entered it myself at the age of 27, and left it when I turned 50. What should I do now? How do you find your way on the job market? At this age, what are my chances of finding a new job? And there are hundreds of people in such a situation,” said the head of “Solidarity” at the Beko plant in Łódź, Sebastian Graczyk.

The president of “Solidarity” in the Łódź region, Waldemar Krenc, confirmed that the goal of the protests is to fight for the continued operation of the Łódź factory. – For now, we are fighting to save this plant and to prevent these people from losing their jobs. We have already discussed this issue with the mayor of Łódź, who is going to meet with the Beko authorities, and at the Regional Council for Social Dialogue, which was convened specifically for this issue, which consists of the government side in the person of the voivode, the local government side – the voivodeship marshal, employers and employees. The Council accepted the idea that they do not agree that the factory will be demolished, he said.

Beko Europe’s communications director, Zygmunt Łopalewski, announced last Friday that the first part of negotiations with trade unions and the company’s employee representatives in Wroclaw had begun.

– In Łódź, the same step will take place on Monday. The meetings in the form of consultations are aimed at establishing the best conditions for the payment of severance payments to employees, as well as defining a timetable for changes in the restructuring process. the action, he announced.

He ensured that Beko Europe declares full openness and willingness to listen to the needs and expectations of employees and that it will cooperate with all those affected by changes related to restructuring to help them with to find their way in this difficult and difficult situation. – The company wants an approach to consultations with empathy and an attitude towards constructive communication – he emphasized.

Production at the plant in Łódź is to be completed by the end of April next year. The manufacturer explained the decision with the changing market, weak demand for products made in Poland and related production unprofitability.