LETTERS, POLEMICS: The position of former and current employees of the Astra Cinema and Salonik in response to the published interview with the director of the OOK

In issue 5/2025 of January 30, 2025, we published an article entitled "What's happening at the Astra Cinema and the Salon?" , which is an interview with Karolina Katan, acting director of the Obornicki Cultural Center. The conversation concerned the current situation at the Astra Cinema and the Salon in Oborniki Śląskie. The director presented her perspective on the functioning of these institutions.

After the publication of the interview, we received an official letter from former and current employees of the Astra Cinema and Salonik, in which they responded to the director's words. Therefore, in order to ensure full transparency and to enable familiarization with different points of view, we publish the full text of the received position below: Explanations of employees and former employees of the Astra Cinema and Salonik regarding the interview published in NOWa Gazeta Trzebnicka on 30.01.2025

Due to numerous inaccuracies contained in the interview given by the Director of the Obornickie Cultural Center, Karolina Katan, on January 30, 2025, published under the title "What is happening at the Astra Cinema and the Salon?", even though this form of communication does not seem to us to be appropriate in the current situation, the most appropriate situation, we feel forced to explain the theses contained therein, present the position of the Astra Cinema employees and the facts omitted by the Director.

- "I categorically deny any allegations of mobbing. I have never used or accepted such practices in the workplace."

Explanation:

On 02.01.2025, a notification was received about possible mobbing in OOK. In the following days, other letters regarding the matter. To date, 23.02.25, none have been considered, and the employer and the Municipality of Oborniki Śl. have not taken any action to clarify this situation.

- "My priority is to build a healthy atmosphere based on cooperation and mutual respect, which has always been my priority as a manager. I have never used any practices that could violate the dignity of employees or in any way negatively affect the atmosphere at work."

Explanation: Practices that had a negative impact on cinema employees occurred many times. We were omitted from organizational meetings and integration meetings. Periodically, we had to perform maintenance duties that were not suited to our physical strength or scope of duties. We faced organizational chaos and a constant lack of answers to questions sent through official channels, and we were not informed about the management's decisions regarding the cinema's operations.

- "I try to resolve every problematic situation openly, in dialogue with employees, always within the limits of applicable law. In the face of such accusations, I will take steps to clarify any doubts."

Explanation: As of 23.02.2025, the submitted letters have not been reviewed. Attempts to contact the injured parties in this matter have been ignored.

- "I would like to emphasize that these accusations are largely the result of an audit conducted after I took over the position of director, which involved an analysis of the administrative, financial and organizational situation of the institution that I was to manage. I took over the activities of an institution in which the cinema and the Salonika were not subject to any control."

Explanation: The employees of the Cinema and Lounge were never informed about the inspection or its results. All reporting activities resulting from the law were regularly performed. Direct reporting to the Director was not required by her. Until the publication of the interview, no employee had been punished.

- "As a result, the people managing the above-mentioned units had too much freedom in making decisions, which led to a situation that required immediate reorganization. The audit and reorganization concerned the entire Obornicki Cultural Center. The inspection and analysis revealed a number of irregularities in the management of the cinema and the Salonika."

Explanation: Key decisions regarding the functioning of the cinema were made by the Management. No employee was ever informed about any audit. Negligence in the management of the OOK is visible to the naked eye: lack of BIP and availability of procedures required by law (Whistleblower Protection Act).

- "The corrective changes became inconvenient for some people who had been acting in a manner inconsistent with procedures for years. As a result, I encountered enormous resistance from the people managing the above-mentioned entities. Not only did they not support the changes being introduced, but they actively opposed them. The lack of willingness to cooperate in any way for the development of the cinema and the Salon was completely incomprehensible to me."

Explanation: None of the employees were ever informed about what procedures needed to be corrected or improved. Employees only raised concerns in justified cases, such as the liquidation of the KinoSzkoła project, violations of working hours (e.g. during Oborniki Days, or in work schedules prepared by the management). The Management showed no willingness to cooperate for the development of the cinema and the Lounge, ignoring, among other things, initiatives aimed at obtaining grant support.

- "Unfortunately, part of the team was turned against me. This created an atmosphere of distrust and opposition, which, instead of serving the good of the institution, began to destroy it from the inside. This situation is particularly painful for me, because I have always cared about building a team that operates on the basis of trust and cooperation."

Explanation: The distrust of the cinema team was aroused directly by the above-mentioned actions of the Director, as well as the dismissal of the maintenance worker, the proposal to retire the person running the Lounge, and the closure of the café - without giving a reason. It was the Director who tried to turn the employees against the manager by organizing meetings to exclude her and pointing to her as a person who was harming the team.

- "The employer's role is not to assess the justification for such a dismissal, but to organise work in a way that ensures the smooth functioning of the institution in a given period. I would also like to point out that I have not dismissed any employee, because such opinions are also circulating in the public space. The decision to return to work depends on them and their health."

Explanation: To date, two people have already left work because they are unable to continue working due to working conditions. One fully trained employee's contract was not extended at the end of January. The decision to return to work depends primarily on the ability to perform it, which has been significantly limited since the Director took up her position.

- "Sick leaves are documents issued by doctors based on the employee's health condition, and their validity can only be verified by ZUS at the request of the employer and ZUS itself. Every employee has the right to take advantage of a convalescence period if necessary, and I fully respect this right"

Explanation: The right to recovery was violated by harassment by the Director's subordinates, on her express orders. We were sent text messages demanding permissions to company Facebook accounts, and the information about searches in the cinema, conducted during our absence, clearly worsened our health.

- "But the fact that in the period preceding their leave, the employees did not fulfil their professional obligations, which caused organisational chaos for which I was unfairly blamed, raises my serious doubts."

Explanation: The duties of the office were fulfilled or transferred within the cinema team. The cinema operated without the slightest disruption despite the lack of interest from the Management until the first letter was submitted. Incomprehensible actions taken immediately after this fact caused health complications for other employees.

- ”Due to the fact that the previous cinema staff went on sick leave at the same time, in order to ensure the continuity of the cinema's operations, I was forced to quickly introduce new solutions”

Explanation: The cinema staff did not go on sick leave at one point. We were referred for treatment successively, with an interval of two weeks, during which the cinema operated without a hitch. It was the actions of the Director that caused the departure of more employees.

- "Now, in accordance with the planned reorganization, employees work according to the schedule in the cultural center or in the cinema. These changes allow for conducting extensive activities in two places at the same time. New employees who are employees of the institution have been hired. These employments were planned earlier than the situation with the cinema. The recruitment process was conducted in an open and transparent manner.

Explanation: Currently, employees do not receive schedules in accordance with the labor code, they rarely work according to the schedules, because they contain numerous errors. Job advertisements are posted only on Facebook and only concern selected positions, some people were hired without advertisements and without recruitment.

- "At the last session, the City Council adopted a resolution on changing the statute of our institution. The main change is the change of name to Kulturalne Oborniki Śląskie. This change will help us integrate all our units, refresh and modernize the image and communication with our recipients. I am aware that the reorganization process requires time and resources, but I believe that this is a step in the right direction"

Explanation: The main change is not the change of name, but the liquidation of the Salon, the expansion of commercial activities and the limitation of the influence of trade unions and associations on the institution's program and activities.

- "The employer has the right to access company documents, but only in specific situations. And such a situation is the need to ensure the continuity of the institution's work, and in the situation in which I was placed, i.e. without access to passwords, computers, contracts, cabinets with documents, as an employer I was forced to gain access to unavailable documents, computers. I had to familiarize myself with the stage at which the work on the repertoire, film orders, its upload, development and making available on the projector was left. Unfortunately, if it were not for my quick intervention, the cinema would have been closed in the first week of January because the screenings had not been prepared. Therefore, I have the right to assume, after combining all the elements of the situation, that the cinema was to be completely paralyzed and there were to be no film screenings"

Explanation: The dismissals were not part of a planned action aimed at "paralyzing the cinema", which is confirmed by medical records and the chronology of events. The severity of health problems is separated by a two-week interval: the first dismissal on 18.12.2024, the next on 2.01.2025, the next on 3.01.2025, the next on 7.01.2025. Until the Director of the OOK took drastic steps, the cinema operated without disruptions. Until 2.01.2025, the Director did not take any actions to secure the cinema's operations. Until then, the management was only interested in gaining access to company Facebooks. It was not interested in the cinema's work, settlements, or reporting its activities. Its interest coincides with the date of receipt of the employee's first letter.

- "Yes, I confirm that the necessary documents necessary for running the cinema, which I managed to find, were transported to the cultural center, where my office is located. In addition, some of the documents were taken because they were not secured against third parties, and some should have been transferred to the main office as part of standard archiving procedures a long time ago."

Explanation: All documentation was secured against unauthorised access in a locked cabinet. For a period of 10 months from the time the Director took up her duties, no procedure was carried out to check what documents we have and how we store them. The sudden inspection of documents coincides with the date of receipt of the first official letter from a cinema employee on 02.01.2025.

- "There was nothing in the intervention that I was forced to make that could suggest any irregularities. I would also like to emphasize that the accusations against me are, in my opinion, the result of a document check during which certain irregularities were discovered. Revealing these problems may have been uncomfortable for some people and was the catalyst for the current events."

Explanation: The inspection took place without notifying the cinema employees or their participation. None of the employees were familiarized with the procedure or its results. We learn about the allegations from the press. During the inspection, our private things were also violated, for example, diplomas and documents confirming gratitude to friendly organizations were lost.

- "Ms. Jolanta Nitka was offered retirement on very favorable terms last year, however, this offer was not accepted by Ms. Jolanta. Ms. Jolanta is a full-time employee, she was not fired, she still works"

Explanation: The proposal that Ms. Jolanta rejected was extremely unfavourable and did not take into account her plans to end their long-term cooperation. Ms. Jolanta is retiring soon due to numerous inconveniences: taking away access to her work email, phone and company Facebook account, as well as a bad atmosphere at work.

Former and current employees of the Astra Cinema and the Salon: Elżbieta Huculak, Anna Kowali, Jolanta Nitka, Agnieszka Bereza, Kinga Kraus