Polish partners clash on new law


Poland’s main union confederations and employers’ associations have clashed on planned legislation giving non-employed workers the right to set up and join trade unions.


New trade union legislation is required in this area because in 2015 the constitutional court struck down the previous legislation which limited union membership to employees. The court ruled that the Polish constitution granted “freedom of association” to everyone, and that the existing legislation did not provide this. With some 1.2 million people working on contracts other than employment contracts, known as “junk contracts”, this was not just a theoretical concern.


The government’s proposals, presented to the parliament early last month, have been broadly welcomed by the two main union confederations, although there is concern at the delay. Marek Lewandowski of NSZZ Solidarność said: “It’s very good that it’s happening; it’s a shame that it’s so late”. Piotr Szumiewicz of OPZZ, the union confederation which took the case to the constitutional court, welcomed the fact that “people, who have non-standard forms of employment, will have more rights, will have unions”.


The employers, however, are very critical. While they have accepted that non-employed workers will have a right to join unions, they do not want their union representatives to have rights to protection against dismissal or paid time off.