Spring strike

It looks like we are going to have a spring stike in Poland. No sooner had the strike among customs officers and health service finished than another strikes are planned. Post-office employees, teachers and mall employees. Teaches, customs officers, police officers had a rise in pay, yet the unionists think that it is not enough, and are threatening with more strikes.

On the list of financial demands, number one are the employees of Polish Post Office. Post-office employees will for sure get 350PLN rise in salaries – if we had earned around 135 million PLN last year, we estimated that this year loss will amount to around 270 million PLN – claimes Radosław Kazimierski, Polish Post Office spokesman. 350 PLN rise in salaries are not satisfactory for the unionists. Potential strike can take place in the second half of April. But even earlier teachers can start their strike.

The Polish Teachers Union (Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego) – assemble 300 thousand education employees – demand another rise in salaries for trainee teachers 500-600PLN gross, as well as keeping in education the right to take an early retirement. Even mall employees gathered to join protest actions. On 10th of April “Solidarność” will be protesting in front of Real centre, and later on they are going to block one of the Warsaw malls, not letting the clients to use carts and check-outs.

We demand the rise in pay by 500PLN gross – said Alfred Bujara, the chairman of The National Section of Dealers Employees “Solidarność” (Sekcja Krajowa Pracowników Handlu "Solidarność"). Both unions are warning that without rise in pay there will be protest in shops in the whole country.