Pracujesz na umowie śmieciowej? Możemy pomóc!
On Oct. 10, a suit against Roche Polska was scheduled to begin in Warsaw. Unfortunately for our comrade, who has been waiting all year for his case to begin, it has been postponed. J. is suing the company to be reinstated at work and receiving all benefits he lost while being fictitiously self-employed at the corporation.
( More information about the case )
Despite the fact that the case was postponed, people who had not been informed showed up at the court, so a picket was held outside. There we explained to passersby why we were fighting. There was also a harsh criticism made on both the attacks on the labour law and the problems that workers have bringing their cases to court - a perfect example of which we faced that day.
On Oct. 10, a case against the corporate giant Roche comes to court. If won, it would be a precedent for a large category of discrimated workers who are denied social benefits.
The case relates to IT workers at Roche Polska who were not given regular employment contracts. Instead, they were falsely hired as "independent contractors" or through businesses not licensed to operate as work agencies. However, they had to work as regular employees, therefore, we are claiming that a work relation actually existed with Roche, even though they deny this. By denying this working relationship, the workers were also denied benefits such as paid vacation, sick leave, maternity or paternity and social security benefits.
Roche Polska's lawyers defend the company with some incredible claims, such as that nobody forced them to work in the office, they could leave or take off whenever they wanted and, if somebody came in from 9-5, it was only because they themselves decided that.
Earlier in the year, Roche also announced that it would outsource IT work in Warsaw and Madrid. Now they pay an outside company intermediary fees just to try to make sure that no IT people claim they work for them!
On Oct.6, members of ZSP held an informational picket about the situation in Warsaw museums which are threatened with closure due to budget cuts. The picket was held near the Technical Museum, which is an example of one institution which may be closed. Besides museums, other cultural and educational institutions are ready to be liquidated: theaters, a chamber opera, libraries, schools and pre-schools. Hundreds of workers can lose their jobs. In the meanwhile, the city wastes money in many other area.
Besides the picket an open meeting / discussion was held the next day.
Thousands of workers in the Polish IT Sector have failed to find the well-paid jobs and instead face the realities of a sector full of precarious working conditions.
A number of problems exist in the sector.
The first is the outsourcing and insourcing of work. The company avoids direct contracting of the workers. Instead, the use the services of outside companies, known in the industry as „peddlars of human goods”, which act as intermediaries take a good percent of the money spent on the workers. Companies have less responsibility towards these workers and do not have the same obligations towards them as towards permanent employees.
On Sept. 29, the largest demonstration in years took place in Warsaw. Although it turned into something of a general „opposition” protest, it was initiated by the CatholicTV station Trwam and was joined by Solidarity, which mobilized around 30,000 people from all of Poland. Below is a brief analysis of such protests in Poland and why we feel it is so important to go into the streets with another message.
While the economic crisis is hitting working people and the tiny middle class in Poland with tremendous force, the right, including the far-right, are making huge headway in society, mobilizing people into a reactionary movement. Instead of any real analysis of the economic and political forces behind the current situation, the current rulers are blamed, leaving the postulates of capitalism untouched. While great parts of society are alienated, they feel hopeless to do anything. They then become mobilized by issues such as national pride or religion. However much of the real frustration relates to the social exclusion of large layers of society, especially the elderly and the poorer working class.
On September 26 there were different types of informational activities in support of the striking workers in Spain and Greece and calling for action in Poland. On this day, comrades from the CNT-AIT were striking in the Basque and Navarre regions and organizing protests in support in various cities.
Early in the morning posters were put up, including at the Spanish Embassy. In the afternoon, leaflets were handed out in several places. Towards the evening, some places were visited, such as the Cervantes Institute or the main press agency. There was a stationary informational action and then a small walk downtown with banners.
ZSP maintains that strikes are a powerful weapon of the working class. We call on workers around the world to organize themselves from below and, using this weapon, make attacks on the capitalist and ruling classes. Now is a critical time to fight against the growing erosion of workers' rights and economic position.
This fight, in order to succeed, must be international. Poland, in this respect, plays an important role in the development of the class struggle in Europe as it is one of a few countries both receiving outsourced and delocalized work and sending cheaper labour abroad. Both of these facts, caused by great income disparities across borders and our dire economic situation, make our role important in the global perspective as either we are also fighting to maintain rights and improve conditions, or we are the strike breakers of Europe, condemning ourselves to a worsening situation.
Members of ZSP Education union in Warsaw have started a campaign to agitate for strike action in the educational sector. Posters were hung in and around some institutions and schools and leaflets distributed promoting the idea. The action is in response to the tragic situation in the educational sector, at all levels.
Besides the increasing problems of the commercialization of education and worsening work conditions, including the precarization of some jobs or categories of workers, we are faced with the mass liquidation of primary and secondary schools: the government has announced now that the recent wave of hundreds of closures is just the beginning. Up to 4700 schools may be closed between now and 2014.
On September 20, members of ZSP visited the City Council in Warsaw to protest with teachers.about the scandalous behaviour of politicians towards their pay, concretely regarding the issue of "motivational bonuses". The reason for this is that in July, without notice and in the summer when most teachers are on vacation, the city decided to recalculate the way motivational bonuses are paid, setting an average amount per teacher in the budget. Unfortunately, the unions agreed to this, meaning that the money allocated would be 25% less than the average had been in 2011.
As part of a series of interviews with comrades from the education sector, ZSP Education Workers Union from Warsaw interviews a comrade from the CNT-AIT in Spain about a strike in the Madrid and attitudes towards the mainstream unions.
Hi. We understand that in Madrid, from the 17th of September, there is an indefinite strike in education. Tell us, what percentage of the teachers are taking part in the strike?
There is not much participation since the large unions are trying to avoid the mobilization of the workers to protect the social peace at all costs. In fact, they always boycott the assembly or self-organized meetings of the workers, if they do anything without them.
And are other workers in the schools participating?
The strike includes all public education workers in Madrid from infant education (0-3 years old) up to the university.
Members of ZSP Education union in Warsaw interviewed a comrade from Priama akcia in Slovakia about a recent one-day strike in education. This is the first in a series of planned interviews about the experiences of comrades in this field and is published in the framework of a campaign publicizing strikes and direct actions organized by education workers.
Hi. We have a few questions about the teachers' strike. What are the main demands?
Officially there are three demands and they are all related to money. The money spent on education in the 2013-2015 state budgets expressed that the percentage of the GDP spent on education should be comparable with other EU member states; all employees in the education sector should get higher real wages; teachers and specially trained education workers (school psychologists, speech therapists etc.) should get 1.2 to 2 times the average wage in the national economy
