Picket at Start People

ZSP again took part in the International Day of Actions at the Start People temporary work agency. The action is in solidarity with our comrade from CNT-AIT Zaragoza and with all workers struggling against precarious employment conditions.

Last November, Start People tried to change the contractual conditions of a group of people working in Qualytel. Our comrade who refused to accept worse conditions did not have her contract renewed. Although the court later ruled that she was essentially dismissed illegally, and although the court found an illegal transfer of workers, she was not reinstated in her job.

Start People: Stop Exploitation!

 

They say we are in crisis time, but bankers, traders, CEOs and many others continue to receive incredible incomes.

Meanwhile, living conditions of workers and unemployed, etc.., are increasingly deteriorating. Precarious workers are particularly affected by the rising of unemployment. So temporary work agencies take advantage of an exploitable labor, that is forced to accept the conditions set by employers, to avoid the risk of no longer being proposed for new missions and fearing of being repressed by the JobAgency (which is closer to a police station than anything).

Some workers reject this logic. So it is precisely because she has refused her
inhuman conditions that a militant of the CNT-AIT Zaragoza (Spain) Union, who
was employee of STARTPEOPLE, has been fired illegally. Indeed, in November 2009, workers of the said temporary work agency received a letter challenging the previous labor contracts and degrading working conditions, under threat
of being fired or not renewed.

In STARTPEOPLE, fight against the degradation of working conditions is grounds for dismissal. Several sections of the IWA (International Workers Association ) were mobilized across Europe in April to show their support to the Zaragoza CNT-AIT struggle.

Unsuccessful Scare Tactics

Lawyers for the firm Turret Development are trying, unsuccessfully, to scare off ZSP and dissuade them from their campaign to get plane tickets back to China for 21 stranded workers who are stuck in Warsaw without money or a valid work permit.

The workers were employed on the Wola Tower construction site. Turret's lawyers are trying to convince people that they bear no respsonsibility whatsoever for what went on with these workers. They claim (despite  what is written on their own webpages) they have nothing to do with Wola Tower and that the investor is a company called "Massandra" and that subcontractors are at fault.

It should be noted that "Massandra" is actually part of the Turret group, with the same Chairman of the Board, same registered headquarters and office, etc. etc. The same capital group runs various interconnected companies and, in cases like this, tries to shift responsibility onto other entities.

TV Appearance about Temporary Work Abroad

A member of ZSP Warsaw appeared on television to give advice to workers, particularly to students, who are about to go to work abroad this summer. Viewers were warned about common problems temporary workers face, about what to look out for in their contracts and what to do if they encounter problems at work abroad. The program lasted almost a half hour.

ZSP Demands Plane Tickets for Stranded Workers

ZSP has started a campaign to help get plane tickets bought for 21 Chinese workers who are stranded in Warsaw and have no money to get home. All of them are in a precarious situation: they have little money and face deportation. They are camped on the lawn of the Chinese Embassy in extremely bad conditions.

The people worked on the Wola Tower construction site in Warsaw. ZSP is asking the firms involved to pay for tickets back to China. 

Boycott Elections

ZSP calls again for boycott of elections. We don't need and don't want any president or any government! We call on people to instead build the militant grassroots organizations to fight against exploitation and government and take popular control!

18 June was action at  Metro Centrum in Warsaw.  Boycott elections actions are always popular with people who see no politicians who represent their interests. We try to send message that it is not lack of good politicians which is the problem, but nature of government.

20 June is elections and 19 June we have so-called "election silence" but there is tradition in Warsaw to go out on day of election and day before to agitate. Already electoral commission made decision that boycott campaign does not fit into laws against election silence.

Picket at H&M

18 June was a picket in the center of Warsaw at HM. The picket was related to two cases of violating workers' rights. The first was in relation to the horrible tragedy at the Garib garment factory in Bangladesh, On February 25, 22 workers were killed in a fire. The workers were locked in the factory and could not escape; on top of that, there were numerous safety violations. The National Garment Workers Federation is calling for compensation for the families of the victims and better safety standards at the factory.

More information:
http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent-actions/garib-fire-survivors-call-for-justice-and-a-safe-industry

The second has to do with the case of Diego, a worker in a Madrid shop who was forced to sign his own resignation against his will. The CNT is demanding he be reinstated to his job and will not tolerate such intimidation of workers. Several pickets have been held in Spain about this case and the CNT called for international actions.

Chinese Construction Workers Again Stranded in Warsaw

A group of 21 Chinese construction workers have ended up camped outside the Chinese Embassy in Warsaw. They have no money to return home and are waiting for help.

The workers were hired by a company called Turret Development. Turret Development is owned by American businessman Michael Alter, president of the Alter Group, one of the ten largest commercial real estate developers in the United States. Alter has been investing in real estate in Poland and using cheap Asian labour for this work.

Currently we are investigating the situation with these workers. One thing is clear: they were hired by Turret Development to work on the Wola Tower construction site. After that, they were sent by Turret to work in Lodz and in Olawa.

Support for Action at the Ministry of (In)Justice

Members of ZSP and KOL have been supporting an action at the Ministry of (In)Justice in Warsaw and calling for more people to take part. It all started when a colleague of ours had some trouble with corrupt local politicians and decided to try and protest but was arrested and treated appallingly. A few groups raised the alarm on this situation. The guy, luckily, managed to also tape record a conversation with one of the local politicians who was corrupt and this became a political scandal; his immediate dismissal was demanded. 

On Monday we went with our colleague to the Ministry of (In)Justice, where he decided to chain himself to the fence and stay there. Since that time, other victims of political corruption and injustice have come with their tents and their chains and a small tent city is springing up. We are calling for other victims of judicial injustice to come and support this protest and for people to come by and protect these people from potential police brutality.

After working hours, quite a lot of people stopped by to show their support. We heard that in the next days, some more people will be coming and setting up their tents.

Antiwar Demo

As usual, members of ZSP showed up at the local anti-war demo with anarchist slogans such as "No War between Nations, No Peace between Classes".

About 100 people came out to protest Poland's involvement in Afganistan and Iraq. Although this is (unfortunately) normal for a Warsaw demo, it is a terrible turnout considering that opinion polls have shown that 80% of the Polish public are against the war.

We call not only for the immediate withdrawal of troops, but the complete liquidation of the Polish (and all other) national armies.