coal m ines, including the technical and social costs of th is process and would provide n ecessary legal su p p o rt (A. K a r b o w n i k , J. S t a c h o w i c z , 1995: 221). The reform s of th e secto r u n d e rta k e n in 1994 com prised im p o rta n t g u a ra n te e s for p it w orkers — no group or com pulsory redundancy, e a rly r e tire m e n t or re tire m e n t as th e m ost ap p ro p riate form of job cuts, free choice of th e form of social p ro tectio n (w orkers leave or social benefit), job secu rity in o th e r collieries for redu ced p it w ork ers a n d th e accession to t r a i n ing schem es for groun d w orkers, a ssista n c e a n d cre d its for w o rkers in te r e ste d in s ta r tin g a b usin ess, etc. (A. K a r b o w n i k , J. S t a c h o w i c z , 1995: 227). The n u m b er of w orkers em ployed in 70 coal m ines in 1993 d ecreased from 330.150 a t th e end of 1992 to 305.208 a t th e end of 1993 (ibid., p. 224). A lthough a t th e end of 1994 th e re w ere some signs of im p ro v em en t — th e ne x t m ore th a n tw e n ty th o u sa n d w okers left th e ir jobs - it d id n ’t p re v e n t th e crash. In 1995 th e economic situ a tio n of th e sector becam e critical, w ith growing loss an d d eb t to b an k s, co n tractors, s ta te an d local com m unities bu d g ets (G órnictwo w ęgla kam iennego. P o lity k a p a ń s t w a i sek to ra na la ta 1 99 6 -2 0 0 0 , p. 26).
E n v isag in g th e grow ing th re a ts re la te d to th e d eepening crisis of th e m in ing sector, a n d lack of efficient policy for th e re s tru c tu rin g of heavy in d u stry - in 1995 th e re p re s e n ta tiv e s of th e s ta te a d m in is tra tio n as well as reg io n al a n d local self-governm ents, reg io n al economic circles, social, c u ltu ra l a n d tra d e -u n io n is t o rg an isa tio n s in itia te d th e R egional C o n tract for th e Province of K atowice (K on trakt R egion aln y d l a W ojew ództw a K a t o
wickiego, 1995). N ot going in to specific a n aly ses of th e co n te n t of th e Con
tra c t, w hich from th e tim e of its signing by sig n a to rie s h a s b een a subject of continuous n egotiations an d se ttle m en ts (on Septem ber 10, 1997 th e final version of th e R egional C o n trac t for th e Province of K atow ice w as signed, in w hich th e u n d e rta k in g s to be im p lem en ted in 1998, n e g o tia te d w ith th e s ta te a u th o ritie s w ere included; com pare fu rth e r: M. B a r a ń s k i , 1999: 34) - it is w o rth s tre s sin g t h a t th e C o n trac t w as a n u n p rec e d e n te d a tte m p t in P oland to grasp in a com prehensive m a n n e r th e issu es of th e r e s tr u c tu r ing of reg io n al economy, it h a d s u b s ta n tia l influence upon th e a tte m p ts of reform ing th e ex tractiv e sector in th e y ears th a t followed. In A pril 1996 the Council of M in iste rs of th e R epublic of P oland accepted a docum ent p re p a re d by a tea m led by J e rz y M arkow ski, th e th e n V ice-M inister of In d u s try, e n title d Górnictwo w ęgla kam iennego. P o lity k a p a ń s t w a i sek to ra na la ta 1 9 9 6 -2 0 0 0 . P ro g ra m d o s to s o w a n ia g ó r n ic t w a w ęg la ka m ien n e g o do
w a ru n k ó w g o sp o d a rk i rynkowej i m ięd zyn a ro d o w ej konkurencyjności (H ard
Coal M ining. The S ta te a n d Sector Policy for th e y e a rs 1996-2000. The pro g ram m e for th e a d a p ta tio n of th e h a rd coal-m ining sector to th e con d itio n s of m a rk e t economy a n d in te r n a tio n a l com petitio n). A pproved in D ecem ber of th a t y e a r by th e P olish P a rlia m e n t, th e p rogram m e contained
a reliab le a s se s s m e n t of th e economic an d fin a n c ia l s itu a tio n of th e sector, a d e ta ile d a n a ly s is of th e re a s o n s why th e p rev io u s r e p a ir p ro g ra m m e s failed, a n d a p ro p o sa l for r e s tr u c tu r in g (G órn ictw o..., pp. 3 9 -4 1 ). The M ark o w sk i p ro g ram m e, d e sp ite m an y a c c u ra te g u id elin es, failed to get n ecessary legal a n d fin a n c ia l su p p o rt an d did n o t b rin g th e expected eco nom ic r e s u lts 2.
W h a t is m ore, th e p ro g ra m m e m et w ith c ru s h in g c ritic ism from th e S o lid arity tra d e u n io n (NSZZ “S olidarność”) w hich, u n d e r th e lea d e rsh ip of th e P re sid e n t of its S ile sian Region (Region Ś ląsko-D ąbrow ski) M arek K em pski, p re p a re d its own com petitive p rog ram m e for th e m in in g sector, inclu ded in th e p ro gram m e of th e S o lid arity E lection A ction (AWS - Akcja W yborcza “S o lid arn ość”) called “R eform a g órnictw a w ęgla k a m ien n eg o - problem i obow iązek p a ń stw a , s z a n sa dla regionów węglowych” (Reform of h a rd coal m ining - a problem and duty of th e sta te , a chance for coal m ining regions). A fter w in n in g th e elections in 1997 th e A W S-dom inated M in istry of Econom y p u t fo rw ard a n o th e r pro p o sal for refo rm ing th e m in in g sector, th is tim e in close co-operation w ith tra d e u n io n s (especially th e S o lid arity In d e p e n d e n t T rade U nion of th e Śląsko-D ąbrow ski Region) a n d enjoying wide p o litical su p p o rt of th e m ajo rity of M Ps. The s ta te p ro g ram m e fo r.th e reform of h a rd coal m in in g in P o lan d in th e y e a rs 1998-2002, approv ed by th e Council of M in iste rs of th e R epublic of P o lan d on 30 J u n e 1998 (Refor
m a g ó rn ic tw a w ęgla kam iennego w Polsce w latach 1 9 9 8 -2 0 0 2 ...) co n tain ed
sev ere criticism of th e prev io u s p ro g ra m m e s a n d in tro d u c e d new legal, fin a n c ia l, a n d o rg a n is a tio n a l in s tr u m e n ts w hich, in th e opinion of th e a u th o rs, should enable a ra d ic a l acceleratio n of s tr u c tu r a l tra n sfo rm a tio n s in th e sector, w ith o u t u n d e sire d social ten sio n s.
In Ju ly 1998 th e J e rz y B uzek G ov ern m en t su b m itte d to th e p a rlia m e n t a b ill on a d ju stin g th e h a rd coal m in in g secto r to fu n ctio n in g u n d e r m a r k e t economy conditions an d on special pow ers a n d ta s k s of m u n ic ip a lities in w hich h a rd coal m ining is located, la te r p a sse d by th e P olish P a rlia m e n t
2 In 1997 over 16 thousand people left the sector, over 3 thousand used the social package,