Trade unions take to the streets. "There's no one in the government to talk to."

• In April, six trade unions established the Steelworkers' Protest Committee. In October, they were joined by unionists from other industries.
• Climate policy and para-taxes are taking away the competitiveness of many industries, which are threatened with plant closure.
• The Star March in Katowice will be attended primarily by representatives of the steel, mining, coking, and automotive industries. However, the problems faced by these industries could have a much broader impact on the Polish economy.

Trade unions are organizing a star-shaped march in Katowice today to defend the industry, which is facing increasing problems even in one of the most industrialized regions in Poland.

"Our patience for talks has run out. We've had many in recent years, and they've yielded nothing. In parliamentary committees, members of both sides argue instead of creating new, effective solutions. There's no one in the government to talk to, no one responsible or knowledgeable about the industry's problems. All talks drag on, and the conclusions reached during these talks are not implemented. The minister promised to appoint someone responsible for the steel industry, but instead appointed someone responsible for mining. In parliamentary committees, government representatives say that the industry's problem is overly expensive energy, and instead of price reductions, we received information from the Energy Regulatory Office that the capacity fee has been increased by more than half ," says Andrzej Karol, chairman of the National Steelworks Section of Solidarity. In his opinion, there's nothing left but protests.

In fact, it began in April, when six trade unions established the Steelworkers' Protest Committee. Since the spring, union members have been protesting in Katowice in front of the now-defunct Ministry of Industry and in Warsaw in front of the Sejm and the Council of Ministers. On October 1, steelworkers also organized a protest in front of the International Congress Center, where the Energy Days and PRECOP conferences were taking place, attended by Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka . The two sides met at that time.

Trade unionists also visited the transshipment terminal in Sławków several times to draw attention to one of the most important problems currently – the unlimited import of steel from Ukraine.

During this time, they met repeatedly with representatives of the government and parliament. At these meetings, they presented alongside employers – the situation in the steel industry is so dire that workers and employers have long been trying to work together.

Government representatives accept arguments but do not make decisions

However, the talks yielded no results, and union members began to withdraw from meetings. While government representatives accepted their arguments and their portrayal of the industry's situation, no concrete solutions were forthcoming.

"We keep talking about the same thing, and yet the steel industry is closing down installations. Thousands of jobs in our company are at risk. For environmental reasons, we force the closure of modern installations, and then we let steel from countries with much lower environmental standards into the EU," said Mirosław Nowak of Solidarity at ArcelorMittal Poland during the October meeting of the Sejm's Economic and Development Committee.

- I have not heard any draft bill, any announcement of any specific action that would take place, for example, tomorrow, in a week or two, because we should be talking about such periods - said Andrzej Karol at the same meeting.

Wojciech Krasuski, a union representative working at Celsa Steelworks Ostrowiec, also pointed out that the industry has been hearing the same announcements for two years, yet there are no specifics. "You know everything, you understand everything, and you agree with us, but there are no concrete actions. Steel from Ukraine is acting in such a way that we in the east of the country will soon cease production," said Wojciech Krasuski.

Energy prices are making many industries less competitive

The unlimited inflow of steel from Ukraine is causing the same effect on its market as we saw some time ago in the case of grain – cheap Ukrainian products supposedly intended for markets across Europe end their export journey in Poland.

During the first months of the year, imports of Ukrainian steel products to Poland achieved double-digit growth. In the case of rebar, imports even quadrupled.

Another major problem is energy prices, the high levels of which in Poland make our industry less competitive, even with other EU countries subject to the same EU regulations as ours. Competing with non-EU countries, where energy costs are much lower than in the European Union, is out of the question.

The automotive industry in Europe is losing tens of thousands of jobs.

However, the steel industry is not the only sector experiencing problems through no fault of its own. Mining, the coking industry, and recently the automotive industry are in a similar situation.

"The European Union has brought down the automotive industry. In Germany, 50,000 jobs have already been lost, and Volkswagen is preparing to lay off another 30,000 ," says Mariusz Król, head of Solidarity at Stellantis Gliwice.

In Poland, an engine factory in Bielsko-Biała was recently closed. Existing Stellantis factories in Tychy and Gliwice have been experiencing several days of downtime. Suppliers are losing their jobs.

According to Mariusz Król, this is partly the result of excessively high energy prices, which are depriving our industry of its competitiveness. At the same time, it is also the result of ill-conceived policy regarding the transformation of powertrains, forced upon us by Brussels.

In the automotive industry, it's not about transforming the industry itself and moving towards electromobility. This is already happening at a cost of tens of billions of euros. Convincing buyers to switch to a different type of drivetrain has proven problematic. Despite financial incentives, demand for electric cars is significantly lower than previously estimated. Furthermore, the uncertain economic situation typically reduces interest in purchasing new cars.

Failure to implement the social contract means mass layoffs

According to trade unionists , as many as 200,000 jobs could be lost in Silesia , and the region could face economic collapse. The problems faced by mining companies operating in the region already suggest such a scenario.

"The government is not implementing the provisions of the social contract at any point. Failure to implement these provisions means that Silesia is not creating enough jobs to replace those lost in the mining industry," says Bogusław Hutek, head of the Solidarity miners' union.

" Rybnik relies on mining and conventional energy. For us, failure to implement the social contract means mass layoffs and the complete destruction of the region ," says Jacek Słowiński, chairman of the Solidarity trade union at the Chwałowice coal mine, adding that many towns in the region face a similar scenario.

According to unionists, they can no longer wait for the government to fulfill its promises and lead a genuine transformation of the region. Every week of delay means more layoffs, the risk of further plant closures, and a mounting industrial problem.