National strikes set for Poland

Poland’s three main union confederations, Solidarnosc, OPZZ and FZZ, have agreed to act together to organise national strikes against government policy on 11 September.

The unions are angry about government legislation loosening controls on working time, as well as threats to pensions and an inadequate increase in the minimum wage.

The new legislation on working time, which has just concluded its passage through the Polish parliament, lengthens the reference period for calculating average working time from the current four to 12 months.

It also allows individual workers to set their working time as they wish, irrespective of agreements reached with the unions or other employee representatives.

But the unions fear that employees will be pressurised into changing their hours to suit the employers. Piotr Duda, the leader of Solidarnosc has stated that the new law will “disrupt workers’ private and family life, and make it impossible to plan”.

The unions have already withdrawn from the tripartite commission of unions, employers and government and, as Jan Guz, the president of OPZZ, the other main union confederation in Poland has stated, “on 11 September we will start strike action”.

The unions are calling for the legislation to be withdrawn and for the resignation of the minister of labour. “We will continue our struggle until victory,” said Guz.