Support the struggle of the Valeo workers in Poland

Sunday 7 December 2025, by Collective


In Poland, an all-out strike last week brought production to a standstill at Valeo’s plants in Chrzanów, Trzebinia and Mysłowice. The main plant, at Chrzanów, employs 2,500 people and produces front and rear lighting systems for several of Europe’s leading car manufacturers, all of which are now potentially affected by the strike.

Valeo is a major company in Poland, employing 7,000 people. It is the world’s 11th largest automotive supplier, and one of France’s leading companies in the sector.
Respect begins with pay

The movement was organised by ‘August 80’, a combative trade union formed from a split in Solidarność (which is now totally aligned with the employers’ positions). A referendum, mandatory under current legislation, resulted in over 90% in favour of strike action. The demands include pay rises of 1,000 zlotys (235 euros). But the strike, which had been in the pipeline for several months, brought to light the deplorable working conditions and the contempt shown towards the workers by the factory hierarchy.

‘Respect begins with pay’, the slogan inscribed on a banner outside the factory entrance, illustrates what lies at the root of the strike. "People faint from the heat at the machines, and you have to ask for a break. We’re monitored all the time, even when we go to the toilet; time is measured with a stopwatch in our hands. It’s a labour camp, not a modern factory" - reports one of the production workers.
A ‘ceasefire’ until 8 December

Valeo used the full arsenal of strike-breakers against the strikers: calling in private militia companies, using temporary workers forced to work 12 hours a day, bypassing plant entrances blocked by strikers, using helicopters to transport parts, threatening redundancies and physically assaulting strikers. And let’s not forget the blackmail of relocation from Poland to Romania, proving that relocation is not a one-way street and is part of the logic of employers’ all-against-all competition.

The Valeo workers received support both from other neighbouring companies and from the local population, who brought firewood and hot drinks, which were very useful for picketing in the November frosts.

Against this backdrop, Valeo’s management was forced to accept the opening of negotiations, which they had been refused for several months. In response, the August 80 union announced the suspension of the strike - not the end of the conflict - but a ‘ceasefire’, as it put it, until 8 December.
In Paris, solidarity with the Valeo Poland workers

The struggle continues. Contacts have been made with trade unions in France. SUD Industrie, CGT Valeo and FO Valeo have lent their support. As decided several days ago, the workers at Valeo Poland are going to make direct representations to the management of this French global group headquartered in Paris. Around thirty of them are coming to Paris on Wednesday 26 November to take part in a militant rally outside the group’s head office.

At a time of rising nationalism with a nauseating undertone, both in France and in Poland, there is no better antidote than this concrete solidarity across borders against the same boss. But we need to understand that, against the prevailing winds, such solidarity does not arise spontaneously, but is only made possible here in France by activists who keep internationalist demands at the heart of the workers’ movement.

A big salute to the Valeo workers in Poland and their union August 80: their struggle continues.

They can and must win!

27 November 2025

Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.



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