“Container town” opens in Poland to house thousands of Asian workers building chemical plant

A “container town” that will house thousands of foreign workers – mainly from Asia – has been set up at the site of a large petrochemical facility being built by Polish state energy giant Orlen near the city of Płock in central Poland.

The first employees moved in earlier this month, and at its peak up to 6,000 foreign workers – from Turkey, India, Pakistan, Korea, Spain and the Philippines, among others – will reside there while working on the project,

Along with Polish staff, there will be up to 13,000 people working at the site, which is Europe’s largest petrochemical investment in the last two decades.

The launch of the container town has led opposition politicians to accuse the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has vocally opposed the EU’s proposed migrant relocation mechanism, of hypocrisy for at the same time overseeing large-scale immigration to Poland.

The residential facility, which took five months to build, is made up of some 2,500 containers with a total surface area of 37,000 m2. As well as residences, it includes four canteens, laundry rooms, as well as a police station and an ambulance stand.

The planning sought to take into account the multicultural nature of the workforce, with canteens serving food tailored to various tastes and requirements. Planned recreational facilities include basketball courts and a cricket pitch.

The facility is located in the rural district of Stara Biała, which has 12,000 residents. The land for its construction was leased by local farmers, reports broadcaster TOK FM. Some residents, however, have raised concerns.

“There are safety concerns, but we are calming the mood and emotions,” local mayor Sławomir Wawrzyński told TOK FM. “We are not allowing the emotions to spiral. We all have to deal with it somehow. So far we have no problems. The first foreigners are already on site. We see them in our shops and streets. They are always polite.”

The mayor is more concerned with logistical and technical challenges around the worker town, such as water and waste management or damage to roads by heavy equipment and transport to construction sites.

In response to questions as to why a completely Polish workforce cannot be used, Jakub Zgorzelski – director of Hyundai Engineering-Tecnicas Reunidas, which is overseeing construction – told website PetroNews that there are not enough specialist workers available in Poland.

The petrochemical plant, named Olefin III, will be used by Orlen to produce materials used in the manufacture of car parts, household appliances and electronic devices, among others. The investment, estimated to amount to 13.5 billion zloty (€3.04 billion), is expected to be completed in 2025.

News of the launch of the container town for foreign workers has led the opposition to accuse the government of hypocrisy. It notes that PiS has staunchly opposed a mechanism to relocate migrants and asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to Poland, even proposing to call a referendum on it.

“PiS is building a town…for immigrants from Islamic countries (India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan) to expand Orlen’s refinery,” tweeted Jan Grabiec, spokesman for Civic Platform (PO), the main opposition party. “At the same time, Kaczynski announces a referendum on the relocation of 1,800 people.”

However, whereas the EU’s relocation plan relates to so-called “irregular migrants”, most of whom have crossed into the EU by boat, those behind the facility in Płock note that they are bringing in qualified workers through legal channels.

“They obtain visas for the duration of the construction. They don’t bring their families to Poland and they will return to their countries of origin once the investment is completed,” said deputy interior minister Maciej Wąsik.

But PO’s leader, Donald Tusk, noted in a speech at a rally last weekend that under the PiS government there has been long-term and large-scale migration to Poland.

Tusk noted, for example, that data show over 135,000 immigrants from majority-Muslim countries came to Poland last year, compared to a figure of 3,000 in the final year that PO was in power.

The PO leader emphasised that he was not opposed to immigration, but argued that there is a huge gulf between PiS’s anti-migration rhetoric and its actions

“No one in the history of Poland has brought in so many foreigners but [also] tried to pour so much hatred towards foreigners into hearts as the PiS government,” he said, quoted by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

Main image credit: Modular System press materials

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.