Poland's PGNiG rejects unions' 11 pct pay demand

WARSAW Feb 23 (Reuters) - Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG PGNI.WA has rejected labour unions demands for an 11 percent pay incease in 2009, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The unions also wanted a 5.5 percent raise to be paid in the first half of 2009,

"Taking into account the economic situation in Poland and the financial situation of the company, the management board decided to reject the unions' proposals," PGNiG said.

The labour unions in turn have decided to start a collective dispute with the company, a first step towards a potential strike.

PGNiG suffers from high natural gas import prices, a weak zloty and regulated end-user prices which have not sufficiently compensated for the rise in costs. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski; Editing by Greg Mahlich)