Polish workers oppose government plan to restrict right to strike

The enormous level of social polarization in Poland has led to a wave of industrial disputes and strikes. Currently public service workers are engaged in tense disputes with the conservative government led by Donald Tusk. The countrys main trade unions, however, are doing all they can to prevent strikes, isolate the industrial conflicts and suffocate any independent action by workers. Now they have gone so far as to support the government with its plans to undermine the right to strike as part of preparations for a much more aggressive assault on the working population.

The frequency and intensity of industrial conflicts have markedly increased in Poland over the past two years. Those who hoped that Polands entry into the European Union would bring some improvement of the social situation have been disappointed. Instead, membership of the EU has only served to widen the gap between rich and poor. While wages in some sectors of industry have risen because of the substantial shift of specialists and technicians to other European countries, any increases in salary have already been eaten away by a dramatic rise in inflationparticularly in the prices of food and energy.

The cost of living has increased considerably since Polands entry into the EU. The prices of many basic foodstuffs have increased by between 50 and 100 percent, in some cases even by 200 percent

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