On Friday, Beko employees from Łódź and Wrocław are to picket the Turkish embassy in Warsaw. Beko is a company with Turkish capital. The company announced at the beginning of September that “the closure of the production zone in Łódź and changes in Wrocław (concerning production workers and office workers) may affect approximately 1,800 positions.”
At the beginning of September, the manufacturer of household appliances Beko Europe presented a plan to optimize its production activities in Poland. The closure of the production plant in Łódź and the refrigerator factory in Wrocław was announced.
The closure of the production zone in Łódź and changes in Wrocław (concerning production workers and office workers) may affect approximately 1.8 thousand. positions. Production at these plants is to be completed by the end of April 2025. Other activities: in Radomsko, the Wrocław cooker factory and the Shared Service Center (SSC) in Łódź, as well as domestic commercial operations will remain unchanged.
Beko employees are to hold a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in Warsaw on Friday. The demonstration is scheduled to start at 12:00.
“Employees of Beko, formerly Polar Whirlpool Wrocław, are on their way to Warsaw for demonstrations in front of the Turkish Embassy to protest against the announced liquidation of the Refrigeration Factory and the dismissal of approximately 700 people. Employees from Łódź are also going, where 1,100 employees are to be dismissed. We will not give up. We will fight,” wrote Małgorzata Calińska-Mayer, councilor of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Assembly, on Facebook on Friday morning, publishing a photo of Beko employees on their way to Warsaw.
“There were supposed to be honey and milk, but there was a group dismissal from Beko”
This is another such protest. Beko employees in Łódź protested a week ago. They had Solidarity flags, whistles and trumpets, banners with slogans: “We want to work honestly, not end up on the pavement”, “It was supposed to be honey and milk, but there was a group dismissal from Beko” and boards with the inscriptions: “Single mother”, ” Working couple”, “Mortgage loan”, “Pre-retirement age”, “Sole breadwinner”.
– In this way, we wanted to show who will soon lose their job. Many of the employees have over 20 years of experience working in these plants. I entered it myself at the age of 27, and I left it when I turned 50. What should I do now? How to find your way on the labor 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 chairman of “Solidarity” in the Łódź region, Waldemar Krenc, emphasized that the aim 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 talked about this matter with the mayor of Łódź, who is to meet with the Beko authorities, and at the Provincial Council for Social Dialogue, convened especially for this matter, which consists of the government side in the person of the voivode, the local government side – the voivodeship marshal, employers and employees. The Council adopted the position that it does not agree to the liquidation of the factory, he said.
Talks with unions
Beko Europe Communications Director Zygmunt Łopalewski announced last Friday that the first part of talks with trade unions and representatives of the company's employees in Wrocław 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 possible conditions for severance pay for employees, as well as jointly defining a schedule for implementing changes in the restructuring process, he announced.
He assured that Beko Europe declares full openness and readiness to listen to the needs and expectations of employees and will cooperate with everyone affected by changes related to restructuring to help them find their way in this difficult and demanding situation. – The company calls for an approach to consultations with empathy and an attitude towards constructive dialogue – he emphasized.
Production at the plant in Łódź is to be completed by the end of April next year. The manufacturer explained the decision by the changing market, weak demand for products manufactured in Poland and the related unprofitability of production.
Main photo source: PAP/Marian Zubrzycki