WYSTĄPIENIE DELEGATA PRACOWNICZEGO,
Zygmunta Cybulskiego
96. SESJA MIĘDZYNARODOWEJ KONFERENCJI PRACY 13 CZERWCA 2007 R.
Original Polish: Mr. CYBULSKI (Worker, Poland)
A report has been given to the Conference on the
principles of equal rights under the law and nondiscrimination
of members of society. This seems to
be a very old and well-known issue but unfortunately
it is still of great importance today. The report
tells us of the results of the fight against discrimination.
We are made aware of discrimination
on grounds of sex and on grounds of ethnic origin,
and also discrimination on grounds of health. Allow
me here to express our solidarity with the workers
of Colombia. In the fight against discrimination the
United Nations agencies, including the ILO, have a huge role to play and they have achieved some great successes.
You might think that in my country, where European
Union standards are complied with, there are
no such problems, but that is not the way things are.
I can give you an example in Pepsi Cola, Poland. In
the Secretary-General’s report we read about the
role of professional organizations in the fight
against discrimination. However, I regret to say that
joining a union can be an obstacle to getting a job
and can also be seen as an obstacle to recognition of
services rendered and to promotion. The Minster of
Education expressed this by discriminating against
teachers who are members of a particular union.
There is a tripartite committee for economic and
social affairs in Poland and for a year and a half, it
has not worked regularly. And yet the Government
responsible seems quite unconcerned.
The Government implements no measures to help
women who would like to have their children taken
care of, there are no kindergartens, there is no daycare
available. What is available is so expensive
that the average Polish family cannot pay for it.
Doctors have been on strike for some time, and
teachers are intending to strike soon, and that points
to the Government’s unwillingness to discuss the
terms of our life together. It is not an important issue
for them, any more than are the problems of
families and living standards in society.
The Government attempted to intimidate the striking
doctors with police monitoring and harassment.
The police have been used to “discipline” those who
have been striking, and they intervened brutally in a
company in northern Poland ten days ago.
Productivity has gone up more than 40 per cent
over recent years and wages have only gone up 7
per cent. If you look at the statistics you can see that
40 per cent of society is living below the poverty
line. The Government’s rejection of social dialogue
means that the social partners do not have any opportunity
to engage in negotiations in order to solve
problems in that context, although that is what society
expects.
The problems of equal rights have a history of
their own and there are many new developments
there. What is, however, important is that the ILO
achieve success. I hope that this current meeting of
the ILO will be a milestone in the struggle for equal
rights and for respect for the workers.