Eastern Border No Easy Way Out

On Tuesday the customs officers had reasons to be optimistic as they sat down to negotiations with the government. Seeing some progress in the situation, Bogusław Milewski from OZPTD (All-Poland Union of Road Transportation Employers) said there would be no road blockades by truck drivers, angered by the slow rate of eastern border check-outs caused by the customs officers protest. There are places where the lines are 1,000 trucks long. Some drivers have been waiting in lines for more than a week now.

During Tuesday talks the government was offering the officers 500 PLN raise, future “uniform service” privileges, and automatic promotion after 5 years of service. All seemed to be going well.

However, yesterday, (Wednesday) the talks broke off, with each side blaming the other. The Government says the officers decided to leave, the latter are dissatisfied with what the former has to former.

There is no imminent solution in sight.