Polish coal miners threaten more strikes

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Unions of Poland's state-controlled Weglowa Company coal mines, Europe's largest coal producer, said they planned additional strikes demanding higher wages.

Dominik Kolorz, head of the miners' Solidarity union, urged the Polish government to join Weglowa management and miners in negotiating pay increases as strikes could hurt the country's energy security, Polish Radio reported Thursday.

Union leaders at Weglowa coal mines, which employ more than 63,000 workers in 16 coal mines, have demanded a 6.9 percent pay increase this year and another raise of 14 percent in 2008.

The unions said they plan to begin a large-scale strike Jan. 7, after talks with Weglowa managers collapsed this week.

However, Zbigniew Madej, spokesman of the Weglowa mines, said he believed the talks with miners could end in a compromise.

Miners in the Weglowa coal mines in Silesia in southern Poland had a one-day warning strike Monday, when they threatened additional protests.

The Weglowa company agreed to an 11 percent pay raise and an payment of $198 for each miner by the end of this year but union leaders refused to accept the offer.