THE management and supervisory boards of PKP Cargo have agreed a redundancy programme with the company’s court-appointed administrator that will see up to 500 staff laid off this year under the restructuring plan for the Polish freight operator.
PKP Cargo says that the redundancies are necessary due to the difficult financial situation that continues to affect the company, with a decline in freight traffic reducing labour requirements.
The company adds that the number of staff to be made redundant is lower than the 1041 originally planned, based on the outcome of earlier trade union consultation. The revised figure also reflects the number of staff leaving the company since the management board announced its intention to implement a redundancy programme on June 6, and redundancies planned in the coming months.The priority has been to minimise the impact on key operations at PKP Cargo.
The process of terminating employment contracts is expected to be finalised by the end of this month, with the process taking effect from the end of October under the restructuring plan that aims to stabilise the company's financial liquidity, repay liabilities and increase operational efficiency.
PKP Cargo says that one alternative to further “employment restructuring” was to terminate the company’s collective bargaining agreement on October 31, but this proposal was not accepted by the trade unions. The company believes that this would have ensured savings equivalent to those envisaged from the redundancy programme planned for 2025.
Employees who are made redundant will be entitled to severance pay depending on their length of service. Up to an amount not exceeding Zlotys 35m, ($US 9.64m) the redundancy programme will be financed from by the proceeds of the sale of wagons withdrawn from service by PKP Cargo.
Following an online auction of 7801 damaged wagons for scrap, the PKP Cargo management board announced on September 9 its decision to sell 6696 wagons for Zlotys 123.3m. One bidder submitted a bid for six of the seven geographical lots, offering a price in line with the minimum set by the judge overseeing the restructuring process.
PKP Cargo stresses that its proposal to implement further redundancies in 2026 has not been confirmed at this time. This will require re-evaluation of the level of both actual and forecast freight traffic and the company’s financial situation beyond the 2025 financial year.
