In October 2020, ZSP published „Fighting Back”, a longer article detailing various examples of how the union has fought against different types of wage theft. (The article is available here in English: https://zsp.net.pl/files/ZSP-IWA-against-unpaid-wages-2020.pdf) The article was written to precede the International Week of Action against Unpaid Wages which the IWA held from October 12-18, 2020. It was decided to repeat the week of actions again, this time from October 11-17, 2021.
A week of action against unpaid wages will be held from October 12-18. 2020. The actions, which are organized by the International Workers' Association, will focus attention on this problem that workers around the globe face all too often.
The unions of the IWA have often been able to take successful action against various forms of wage theft. One of them is the ZSP. Hundreds of workers have been able to recover wages and other money they were entitled to through action with this union. On the occasion of the International Week of Action, we present the history of a few such cases which show different types of theft such as unpaid wages, underpaid wages, lack of overtime payments, lack of sick pay, vacation time or social security payments (to name the most common).
Le monde entier observe avec inquiétude la situation au Bélarus. Le
soulèvement de la société biélorusse contre le gouvernement autoritaire
se développe et se manifeste de différentes manières. On peut observer
non seulement des manifestations de masse, mais aussi des grèves qui
unissent des travailleurs de différentes professions, exprimant la
colère de la classe ouvrière locale contre la tyrannie. Nous espérons
que les grèves se transformeront en grève générale, qui conduira au
renversement du dictateur Loukachenko.
Todo el mundo observa con preocupación la situación en Bielorrusia. El levantamiento de la sociedad bielorrusa contra el gobierno autoritario está creciendo y se manifiesta de diferentes formas. Podemos observar no solo manifestaciones masivas, sino también huelgas que unen a trabajadores de diferentes profesiones, expresando la ira de la clase trabajadora local contra la tiranía. Esperamos que las huelgas se conviertan en huelgas generales, que conduzcan al derrocamiento del dictador Lukashenko.
The whole world is watching the situation in Belarus with concern. The uprising of Belarusian society against the authoritarian government is growing and is manifested in different ways. We can observe not only mass demonstrations, but also strikes that unite workers from different professions, expressing the anger of the local working class against tyranny. We hope that the strikes will turn into a general strike, which will lead to the overthrow of the dictator Lukashenko.
The Union of Syndicalists of Poland (ZSP) has responded to the coronavirus pandemic by calling for different forms of working class action. It is planning a mobilization to start as soon as it is possible to gather en masse in public.
First, it has pointed out that workers who want to (and should) stay at home, should do so. In Poland this is even protected in the Labor Code – however, many workers are not protected by it due to employer abuse of civil contracts; workers on such contracts, which number in the millions in Poland, are excluded from these legal protections. Furthermore, some employers have threatened workers who want to stay home or misinformed them of their rights. The most common threat is that, due to a lack of business, the workplace will suffer economically and have to cut staff. It is implied that workers will be fired for using their right to refuse work in such a situation.
La Unión de Sindicalistas de Polonia (ZSP) ha respondido a la pandemia del coronavirus haciendo un llamamiento a diferentes formas de acción por parte de la clase trabajadora. Está planeando una movilización que ha de comenzar tan pronto como sea posible reunirse masivamente en público.
En primer lugar, ha señalado que lxs trabajadorxs que deseen (y deban) quedarse en casa, deben hacerlo así. En Polonia esto está protegido incluso en el Código del Trabajo -no obstante, no protege a muchxs trabajadorxs debido al abuso de los contratos civiles (régimen autónomo) por parte de sus empleadorxs; lxs trabajadorxs con este tipo de contratos, que se cuentan por millones en Polonia, están excluidxs de estas protecciones legales. Es más, algunxs empresarixs han amenazado a lxs trabajadorxs que desean quedarse en casa o les han informado erróneamente de sus derechos. La amenaza más común es que, por la falta de negocio, el centro de trabajo sufrirá a nivel económico y tendrá que recortar personal. Esto implica que se despedirá a lxs trabajadorxs por hacer uso de su derecho a negarse a trabajar en tal situación.
Always conscious of the origins of the March 8 holiday, the ZSP participated in protest actions in Warsaw and in Wroclaw, calling all the time for strikes and other direct action against exploitation and all forms of discrimination and domination.
In Warsaw comrades participated in the 20th annual women's demonstration called Manifa. It has often participated but sometimes critically, against aspects of positions which are not in line with our perspective. This year was the same critical perspective, but it was noted that the worst (neo) liberal and bourgeois feminist factions have abandoned this demonstration, thus making it have at least a more leftist character with more space for social politics. Many people welcomed a more radical perspective, which is something that has been changing over recent years.
ZSP in Warsaw decided to address the fact that although the recent slogan of „women's strike” originated in Poland, there is no strike movement. We had long ago reacted critically to the use of the label „strike” to describe any protest action, which was how it was used and is often used here and insist that this cannot substitute real strike action for which fighting organizations are necessary.
