Katowice Steelworks
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Katowice Steelworks (Polish: ''Huta Katowice'') is a large steel plant, located in southern
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, on the boundary between the historical provinces of
Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a s ...
and
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...
. The current name of the plant is ArcelorMittal Poland Dąbrowa Górnicza, and its previous names were ''Mittal Steel Poland'', ''Ispat Polska Stal S.A.'', and ''Polskie Huty Stali S.A.''. Contrary to its name, Katowice Steelworks is not located in the city of
Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
, but in
Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula, see ...
, which is located east of Katowice.


History

The decision to build a modern, brand new plant, located in a forested area of
Zagłębie Dąbrowskie Zagłębie in Polish means coalfield. It can refer to: *Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, a mining region *Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, a mining region *Zagłębie Sosnowiec, an association football club *Zagłębie Lubin, an association football clu ...
was taken by
Edward Gierek Edward Gierek (; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish communism in Poland, Communist politician and ''de facto'' leader of Poland between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as General Secretary of the Communist Party, F ...
during the VI Congress of
Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...
, which took place on December 6–11, 1971. The construction was initiated on April 15, 1972, and it brought far-reaching changes to the social structure of the region. Thousands of migrants, mostly from eastern Poland, came to work and live in newly built flats. Furthermore, additional projects, serving the Katowice Steelworks were initiated, such as the
Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line ( pl, links=no, Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa, LHS) is the longest broad gauge railway line in Poland. Except for this line and a few very short stretches near border crossings, Poland uses standard gauge. The singl ...
, which was used to transport iron ore from the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Construction of the plant was carried out with cooperation with Soviet experts, and the honorary title of the ''First Worker'' was granted to
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
. Altogether, some 50,000 workers took part in the project. First unit of the plant was opened in 1975, and in May 1976, ''Metallurgical Corporation Huta Katowice'' (''Kombinat Metalurgiczny Huta Katowice'') was created, which, besides the plant itself, also included ''
Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and official, born into Poland, Polish n ...
Steelwork'' (now ''Huta Bankowa'') in Dąbrowa Górnicza, and ''Coke Plant'' in Zdzieszowice. On December 2, 1976, at 7a.m., the
blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
was fired for the first time, and on December 3, 1976, first 30 tons of
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...
were retrieved. In 19801981, Katowice Steelworks was one of main centers of the
Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
trade union. The first strike began there on August 29, 1980, and on September 11, 1980, the Katowice Agreement was signed in Katowice Steelworks, which was the fourth and final agreement between the newly created free trade union and the Communist government (
Gdańsk Agreement The Gdańsk Agreement (or ''Gdańsk Social Accord(s)'' or ''August Agreement(s)'', pl, Porozumienia sierpniowe) was an accord reached as a direct result of the strikes that took place in Gdańsk, Poland. Workers along the Baltic went on strike in ...
, Szczecin Agreement,
Jastrzębie-Zdrój Agreement Jastrzębie-Zdrój Agreement ( pl, Porozumienie jastrzebskie) was an accord, signed on September 3, 1980 at Manifest Lipcowy Coal Mine in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, between the authorities of the People's Republic of Poland, and the ''Jastrzebie-Zdroj ...
). Plant's Solidarity activists, headed by Andrzej Rozpłochowski, were very active, publishing several magazines, such as ''Free Trade-Unionist'' (''Wolny Związkowiec''), and ''Solidarity News'' (''Wiadomości Solidarności'') and organizing protests and industrial actions. In the night of August 14/15, 1981, “unknown individuals” destroyed Solidarity's publishing equipment in Katowice Steelworks. On December 12, 1981, a few hours before announcement of the martial law in Poland, Communist services arrested 36 Solidarity leaders of the plant, out of the list of 38. On December 13, 1981, at 5:40 in the morning, workers of both night and day shifts declared a strike and blocked all gates to the enterprise. On the next day, security forces stormed the plant, arresting 100 people. The strike nevertheless continued, and on December 16, some 6,200 workers participated in it. In the following days, military authorities amassed more than 4,000 officers and soldiers, together with helicopters and armoured carriers. They prepared an attack on the plant, but the workers, after a demonstration of force, finally gave up. The protest ended on December 23, at 1p.m., with protesting workers leaving the plant and the police arresting hundreds. After the collapse of the Communist system, Katowice Steelworks lost its Eastern markets and the plant had financial problems. In 1994, a large strike took place there, with workers demanding better salaries. In the following years, the situation did not improve and by 2000, bankruptcy of the plant was considered. In 2003, Katowice Steelworks joined Polskie Huty Stali S.A., and on January 14, 2005, it changed its name to Mittal Steel Poland S.A., becoming part of
Mittal Steel Mittal Steel Company N.V. was an Indian company and one of the world's largest steel producers by volume and turnover. After a merger in 2005, it is now part of ArcelorMittal. History Mittal Steel Company was formed as Ispat International in 19 ...
. In 1992, the plant employed 23,240; by 2006, the number of employees had been reduced to 4,073. Among other things, it manufactures rail and streetcar tracks.


External links


ArcelorMittal Poland
{{Coord, 50.344, 19.280, dim:5000_region:PL, display=title Iron and steel mills in Poland Manufacturing companies established in 1972 1972 establishments in Poland Poland–Soviet Union relations