Companies offer laid-off miners dozens of jobs in Czechia's Most region

Companies are offering laid-off miners in the Most region dozens of vacancies. They are looking for workers, heavy machinery operators and machinists. This emerged at a job fair held today by Sev.en Česká energie. The shutdown of mining at the ČSA mine will cost 500 people their jobs, with another hundred in August. Workers are receiving severance pay, and many are eligible for a state restructuring allowance.

A total of 120 people came today to collect their dismissal notices. The same number will arrive on Monday, when the job fair will be held again. Others are receiving their notices at work. The employer informed everyone about the opportunity to come and choose a new workplace. At the fair, they could register with the Labour Office, apply for a restructuring allowance and receive a job offer. “It was very helpful. There were quite a lot of offers, which surprised me,” Petra from Most, who left with leaflets and contact details, told CTK. “I want to start as soon as possible. I was interested in the offers from the Railway Administration, the Prison Service and Czech Post; everyone was very helpful,” said the 41-year-old woman, who worked at the Komořany coal preparation plant.

Around 30 employers offered a range of positions. Most were local companies. “We operate in the Žatec industrial zone, so it’s not far away. We repair gas turbines, and we’re hiring machinists, welders and production technicians,” Kateřina Valešová of Solar Turbines told CTK. “People are taking our contact details, and we expect some of them to apply,” she said. GW Train Regio was offering positions for locomotive drivers and train conductors. Applicants do not need to have taken any exams. “If they’re interested, we’ll train them,” said deputy operations manager Josef Kurfiřt. Training locomotive drivers takes about six months, so the company would like to recruit someone now. The job would be based in the region.

A 39-year-old heavy machinery operator was interested in becoming a locomotive driver. “If it’s a good job, I’ll take it straight away. It’s no good waiting to see what’s left,” said Josef Šimko from Jirkov in the Chomutov region, who operated heavy machinery at the ČSA mine for 19 years. His last day at the mine will be 31 May. “They treated us well and gave us severance pay, so there’s no reason to complain,” he said. He welcomed the opportunity to take care of everything he needed on site. “After finishing work, you have to go to the Labour Office within three days, and there could be crowds of people there. Here, everything is taken care of on site, without waiting,” he said. Depending on their years of service, employees will receive severance pay of up to eight monthly salaries.

Mining will be brought to an orderly end over the next few months. The company will lay off 485 people between May and July. Employees in positions such as maintenance fitter, electrician, driver, mechanic and other technical roles are being released. “There are lots of offers. I don’t yet know exactly what I’d like to do. But I’ll probably stay at home over the summer because of the children: if I started work now, I wouldn’t be entitled to holiday leave during the school holidays,” said Martina, who worked in the rail transport department.

Eighty percent of those being laid off are from the Most region. This district has the highest unemployment rate in the Ústí nad Labem Region, at 7.7 percent in March. “The labour market in our region can handle the mass layoffs. We’re seeing strong demand from employers for workers, particularly in technical occupations such as welding, logistics and machine operation, as well as in various skilled trades. This is linked to the growth of industry in the region, so people in these fields need not worry about finding work; on the contrary, they can usually expect very good working conditions,” said Martina Bečvářová, director of the Labour Office’s regional branch in Ústí nad Labem.

The Czech Police was also offering jobs at the fair and wants to fill dozens of positions in the region. “The problem is that applicants have to pass physical and psychological tests. Since most of them are older people who may already have health problems, it’s not ideal for them,” said Lucie Čmerdová Sáričková, a police recruiter in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The Prison Service may have more success: the region has Bělušice Prison in the Most region, Všehrdy Prison in the Chomutov region and a remand prison in Teplice.

Employees are eligible for a state restructuring allowance if they are laid off as a result of restructuring and have worked for a mining company for at least two years. “They can receive the allowance for anywhere from three to 60 months; the longer they worked for the company, the longer they’ll receive it,” said Pavel Kaša of the state-owned company Diamo, which processes applications. Underground miners are entitled to a monthly allowance of 8000 crowns. “So far, there’s only one person in that category here. The others worked above ground and will receive 5300 crowns a month,” Kaša said. Eligibility ends when people start receiving their old-age pension.

After the summer holidays, only workers responsible for safety will remain at the ČSA mine. If there is no need to resume mining brown coal at the mine, it will close permanently. “If there is a need, employees of Vršanská uhelná will move to ČSA, since the machines will remain there. We won’t be hiring anyone for that,” said Eva Maříková, spokesperson for the Sev.en Česká energie group, which owns both mines.