Pracujesz na umowie śmieciowej? Możemy pomóc!
On April 27 and 30, there will be actions held in solidarity with FIAT workers in Tychy and Bielsko-Biała, Poland, and Kragujevac and Belgrade in Serbia. Our sister section of the IWA, ASI, will be organizing the actions in Serbia.
FIAT decided to fire 1400 workers in Poland and create the same amount of new jobs in Serbia. They Serbian government is going to pay FIAT 10,000 euro per worker, which is equivalent to about 2.5 years salary. Money for this subsidy has been supplied by the Russian government.
It is obvious that the workers in FIAT are all being used against each other, as the
company goes where the wages are cheap and subsidies are given, ready to throw out the workers at any moment and always using the threat of competition against workers' demands.
We cannot tolerate this exploitation and we will not be divided.
Polish right-wingers try to use this situation and the fact that it is funded by Russia, to create national sentiment and hate against others – they wind up blaming the workers for the problem instead of capitalism.
The ZSP and ASI will protest against this situation amd send a message that workers around the world need to be in solidarity with each other, even when the capitalists are involved in manouevres such as in FIAT.
The comrade was attacked in Moscow on March 28 by a group of National-”Anarchists” from so-called MPST. The MPST is according to our sister organization the KRAS, known with their nationalist etnicist statements and writings; they proclaim the “preservation of ethnic identity”, declaim against the mixture of people and against the synthesis of cultures, and declare that the cosmopolitism is a “devil incarnated of capitalism”. Moreover, one of the leaders of this group confessed that he agreed during his interrogation in police to inform the authorities about social movements.
This is not the first time that members of MPST have attacked several political opponents inclusive anarchists physically. In January, they threatened also the libertarian LGBT activists. MPST spoke against homosexuality and was demanding that LGBT should not raise their "rainbow" flag in anarchist demonstrations. After this “discussions”, the LGBT activist were in fact attacked during one libertarian manifestation.
Our comrade has a dream. Of a world without corruption, politicians and capitalism. Without people with power, abusing all around them to make a profit.
Our comrade is active in the ZSP and other grassroots groups, since organizing from below forms the basis of the movements which can one day oust such politicians from power.
ZSP is in a state of war with the politicians and bosses who are ruining our lives. In the city of Warsaw, as support for the ruling president is crumbling and more and more people are expressing their anger about her disastrous policies, the city needs a ”threat”, someone to scapegoat, a way to make people scared.
How convenient it would be to have a deranged anarchist ax murderer to arrest. Unfortunately, the city does not really have one. But don't worry: for the purposes of the authorities, our comrade will do just fine.
On March 23 the ZSP held its 6 Congress in Warsaw. The Congress focused on concrete proposals related to national and international issues. Among the decisions taken at the Congress were on texts for new brochures about ZSP, for the general public and for people who would like to join. A new system for approving Sections and local contacts who want to join was also adopted.
There was talk about the need to coordinate better in branches and about how to do this also on the international level. The new section of health care workers also expressed interest in possibly organizing
an international meeting.
We spoke of actions related to mass unemployment, layoff and cuts and will coordinate something around the IWA day of action. It was decided to make different texts and leaflets related to job loss in certain companies and industries.
Besides these and a few other matters, ZSP discussed some international issues, including proposals for the next IWA Congress.
Starting on March 21, ZSP organized a few actions related to housing issues in the Praga area of Warsaw. This area is undergoing intense gentrification and people are being forced out of their homes in various ways.
One of the most dangerous methods of the gentrifiers is arson. At the end of 2011, after a series of arson attacks, we formed neighbourhood patrols for community self-defense. These patrols were successful and the arsons stopped for well over a year. After a series of new fires, the patrols were reactivated.
Also we protested against the destruction of the main street in the neighbourhood, where our offices are also located. A metro line is being built and the consortium responsible has not taken any measures to secure the old buildings. As a result, some of them are falling and people are in danger of losing their homes and being evacuated. It is clear that the city and consortium have agreed to take this route, because the gentrifiers want the old tenants out of the neighbourhood anyway. Despite the freezing cold, local residents came out with harsh words of criticism.
Actions in the neighbourhood continue, calling for local assemblies and direct control over public housing.
At the beginning of the year, ZSP Education workers started work on developing a long-term campaign against the use of trash contracts in education. The first thing that we started on was informing about the use of „authors' contracts” instead of employment relations or even typical civil contracts. With these contracts, teachers were being paid for writing courses, instead of teaching them. So in fact, the contracts do not guarantee any wage based on time spent working and creates a big possibility of being cheated. The contracts also imply no working relationship and removes the responsibility of the school to make social security payments. We saw that this type of contract was being used to cheat workers and we targetted some foreign language schools that we knew were using them to begin with. A few weeks later, we were informed that the Social Security Office would do something about this problem. Critical of how the state acts, even when it is supposedly in our interest, we released the following statement.
ZSP Education and IT Workers on Control Related to Author's Contracts in Warsaw Language Schools
Recently ZSP Education Workers pointed out how some educational institutions were using „authors' contracts” for teachers and what negative consequences this could have for them. In particular, we noted their use in a number of foreign language schools in Warsaw, where people were being cheated, especially foreigners. The Social Security office has responded by announcing that it would inspect the schools and see if these teachers are being denied their correct status. This is being done by this office because on „authors' contracts”, the schools do not make social security payments.
Although we welcome measures to stop the use of these abusive contracts, we remain critical as to how the state acts in terms of workers' rights. At the same time that the Social Security Office is moving against these schools, which are predominantly small businesses, tens of thousands of workers are also losing all or part of their social security payments in other ways, or being forced to bear the burden themselves. We cannot forget that workers who are supposed to make their own payments while forced to be fake „entrepeneurs” tend to pay the lowest contribution possible and often pay in much less to their pension that their real employers would have to. The Social Security system is losing tons of money through this and workers are losing parts of their pensions. ZSP points out the abusive use of this scheme plus the use of „authors' contracts” in the IT industry. This abuse is even used in huge multinational corporations which the state refuses to control.
Comrades from the CNT-AIT in Spain who unionized at Telepizza in Seville were fired and since the beginning of the year, pickets have been organized there, demanding the reinstatement of the workers and improved working conditions. Solidarity pickets are also taking place in other cities in Spain. Here in Poland, we decided to show our solidarity to the comrades as well.
At the end of January, we started with publishing information, posters and leaflets about both the situation in Spain and the working conditions in Telepizza in this country. A few of our comrades have worked in this firm and also we have received denouncements from other workers. On February 3, we made some solidarity pickets. In Warsaw, two former Telepizza workers attended pickets. Leaflets were given out in front of the restaurants as well as inside, to customers and workers.
We certainly will go back and we will hope for more contact with the local workers.
Attached is an English version of a leaflet.
On February 2, members of the ZSP, Tenants' Defense Committee and residents of Targowa St. in Warsaw protested against the lack of safety measures taken while building the metro on that street. ZSP's office is at Targowa 22 and some of its members also live on that street in a building sinking into the ground due to lack of safety measures taken during construction. The city and the companies building the metro try to avoid responsibility. In the meanwhile, serious damage has appeared in several landmark buildings and the situation is getting dangerous for residents.
The buildings near the metro construction line are among the strongest on Targowa St; many of them survived the war. But what the nazis did not manage to destroy, capitalist greed is doing. They are under threat and people can lose their homes. The buildings further down the street, including the ZSP office, are in worse condition so they could have even worse problems when works start there.
The people demand that the work planned using big drills be postponed until the safety of the residents are ensured.
The Education Workers' Union of ZSP has produced an English version of its bulletin which can be downloaded here: http://www.zsp.net.pl/education-workers-bulletin-no-1-english-version
ZSP has been receiving information about abuses made by Stuwadoorsbedrijf van Rooij B.V. According to the Court Registry, the Polish branch of the firm in Gliwice is being liquidated, but it is still working, recruiting people to go to work in Holland (using a portal with another name, Want 2 Work.nl).
Besides the traditional problems of temporary work agencies, like not paying all benefits or making people work unpaid overtime, the intermediary is trying to get workers to sign documents that are not in their favour.
For example, one woman there worked for 5 months. She was supposed to have a 6-month contract. The agency then gave her a letter to sign which claimed that she quit the job, which would mean she'd have no right to unemployment benefits in Holland.
