In Defense of Free Speech and Tenants' Rights

Today the lawsuit against the Tenants' Defense Committee started. A couple of members of ZSP who are also in the Committee are being sued for making a film where tenants describe their problems with their landlady.


A small picket was held outside the court. The corridors were filled with tenants and journalists who filmed the people, who were all telling stories of their difficult and even desperate living situation. There was no place at all in the courtroom and the judge was a little consternated when a group of elderly women just decided to sit on the floor of the courtroom. The landlady was not present, but was represented by her lawyer, who had been involved in a very famous case related to slander on TV in the past. The TV stations were denied permission to film and some people wanted to speak out to the judge. After some minutes, things calmed down and the Committee, which was defending itself, submitted its arguments to the court, as well as evidence. The documents submitted were mostly related to what was said in the film. Among other things, the landlady claims that the tenant is not telling the truth, but most of what was said can be confirmed in one way or another.
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Actions in Mass Transport

On July 9, ZSP members started to make actions in Warsaw´s public transport against the raising of fares. Leaflets are being handed out calling for action, information is stuck in the transport. ZSP supports free and collectivized transportation as a goal but, besides from propagating such ideas, it would like to encourage people to mobilize against the fare increases in an active way. This includes  protests and different types of direct actions such as not paying, mutual insurance schemes against ticket controls and, for those who do have a ticket, the passing of tickets to other passengers. We have noticed that people have actually started to practice the last one a little more recently.

We do not agree with the fare increase which hits the working poor the most and will make Warsaw´s public transport more expensive than in many cities in Europe. Besides this, we will continue to point out the various labour problems which exist, especially for bus drivers who are often forced to work too much for miserable pay, impacting on their health and safety and the safety of the passengers as well. Read more!

OTTO Actions Bring Results

The OTTO campaign is still going on. In Wroclaw a couple of women were able to get their full salary by standing up to the company. They were contracted to work in the Wago Elwag factory, which produces electonic components. When they received their first pay check, they noticed it was short.  During a protest in Wroclaw, a manager from OTTO came to speak to ZSP and claimed this was because workers were only paid for production, however the contract was not for piece work, but a regular hourly wage. Confronted with the evidence and the ongoing campaign, they had to pay.

Again this shows that if you are being cheated, it is best to take direct action and fight back! It is also much better to organize yourself BEFORE you are cheated! We have been trying to speak to the rest of the workers in Wago Elwag about this situation. Read more!

Lawsuit is the Latest Tactic of Attempted Intimidation in Struggle for Tenants' Rights

Some members of the ZSP from Warsaw are being sued for a film they made and put on the internet. Other members of the Tenants' Defense Committee are also being sued because the film was on their website. The video documents the problems of two families who have been having problems with their landlady, who wants to evict them, for years.

The video was intended to give tenants a voice in a system which is extremely one-sided, ignoring their rights and not even ensuring they are protected by the rights they have under the law.

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Protest against Price Increases

On July 1, near the stage of the city's gala concert to mark Poland's taking over the EU presidency, we held a protest against the price increases adopted by the city. The price of public transport is going up an average of 70%, day care almost 600%, water and sewage 30%. In addition, the city plans the privatization of the company that provides heat.

ZSP is campaigning against the increases and calls for direct action, including not paying transport fares and organizing alternative day care instead of paying the outrageous prices. ZSP also calls for transport to come under control of the workers and community. Signatures were  gathered at the protest for a referendum which would overturn these decisions and block the privatization.

In general the public was supportive and people stopped to talk, despite the terrible weather. More actions are planned over the next month, including actions in public transport.

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On June 30, the mainstream union Solidarity held a large demonstration in Warsaw. Members of ZSP, plus guests from the IWW and WSA from the US, went to the demo to hand out leaflets and agitate for rank-and-file unionism and for a general strike.

We pointed out that while working people were rebelling in many parts of Europe, here the unions have moderated struggles and often avoid methods such as strikes. The whole idea of a general strike is avoided.

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Campaign Against Price Increases

Last month the ZSP protested against price increases at the City Council. Despite hours of controversial debate, the neoliberal majority had already decided to do what they had done in many cities throughout Poland: raise the prices of different public services in a way that average working people would have to bear more costs.

The price raises are quite significant: public transport costs on average 70% higher (with some tickets raised even more), water and sewage 30% higher and, worst of all, the price of public nursery schools raised almost 600% for most people. It is true that the prices for the nursery schools will be lower for people earning minimum wage, but the highest rates are already imposed on anybody making just 60% of the average wage and will cost almost 300 euros a month (!!!) This is completely unaffordable and will hit working class mothers, especially single mothers the most. It is simply impossible for the average working mother to afford this price!

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OTTO Workforce sends thugs against activists; ZSP launches new picket campaign

There is still the situation of injured worker Maciej, who does not know if he will receive further sick pay due to the inappropriate actions of OTTO, and now some people working in Wroclaw were also cheated and not paid for all the hours they worked. Due to the continued revelations of problems with OTTO Workforce, including more incidents brought to light by Dutch investigative journalists, ZSP announced that it would picket OTTO every day starting June 20, for at least the next two weeks, and maybe longer.

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Real Democracy Now

On June 19, an action entitled "Real Democracy Now", called by some Spanish students and local activists, was held in Warsaw. There were some open discussions on the Copernicus Sq. about the nature of democracy, problems in society, etc. etc. The local ZSP participated, along with some international comrades, from CNT-AIT, SP-AIT and KRAS. Since we had a slightly different idea about what "real democracy" means, we handed out leaflets (in different languages) explaining ideas of self-management and why we are against all forms of government. There were many discussions with passersby, although few took part in the action. Poland is still a long way from Spain or other countries were such mass public meetings have recently taken place.

ZSP called on people to be more active in public life and to take action against the anti-social decisions of the government. As an example, it mentioned the recent increases in the price of public transport, nursery schools and utilities such as water. This decision was highly unpopular among people, but there were no protest movements to stop it (ZSP and the tenants movement were literally the only ones to mobilize). Now there is a chance to overturn the decision by referendum. It is much harder to do, but still possible. It would have probably required less effort to protest beforehand than try to change it later. Nonetheless, we think this decision should be fought, not accepted - and all depends on if people mobilize. ZSP will be active in this campaign in the next two months.

We also stated that this year, as always, we will be boycotting the elections and we call on people to become more active in grassroots movements and try to build forms of self-organization. During the summer we will be moving around the neighbourhoods, again trying to make local assemblies. It is a long and difficult task but we hope that in the future such initiatives will inspire people's imagination and bear fruit.

Some photos from today's action are below. The text of the leaflet in Polish is here.

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Statement Regarding Police Action during May 28 Protest

ZSP strongly protests against the actions of the police during Saturday's demonstration on Trzech Krzyży Sq. In Warsaw and against them in general.

While many millions of people in Poland are condemned to poverty, the government spends our public money on protecting the elites and (unsuccessful) attempts to scare the people that do not agree with this system and decided to publicly show their opposition. On Saturday, there was an army of police on the streets, making life difficult for ordinary people by creating cordons and detours. The police scared off and threatened many people on the way to the demonstration that if they go, they would not be allowed to leave. Police armed with tear gas was mobilized against demonstrators, there were snipers and a new instrument of repression, the LRAD.

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Day of Rage met with Police, Snipers, LRAD

On Saturday, May 28, ZSP organized a demonstration in Warsaw against anti-social policies. The demo was held during the Meeting of Presidents of Central Europe and the visit of Barak Obama to Poland.

Already on Friday we experienced problems with the police, who turned Warsaw into a fortress with closed streets and riot equipment everywhere. Despite this and despite attempts to redirect protests we were able to get to the side of the Presidential Palace. However, the next day they had decided that we could not march as planned and brought a few hundred police against a crowd of a similar size. (With even more police ready in nearby vans just in case.) People were able to observe snipers on nearby rooftops.

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Barracks for Obama Action Takes Place Despite Police State

Yesterday half of downtown Warsaw was blocked off from vehicle and pedestrian traffic and the city looked like a police state because of the meeting of Central European presidents and the visit of Barrack Obama, The media had been speculating for days what would happen to a couple of demonstrations planned - two demonstrations planned in the framework of Days of Rage and the annual marihuana march. ZSP declared that we would not be illegalized and would turn up at the Presidential Palace as planned. Nota bene, the Presidential Palace was in the zero zone.

We did not manage to get right in front of the Palace for one reason: very few people were able to come at all. But about 50 people managed and we got within 50 meters of our goal, to the side of the Palace, on the main street - so we were able to great the motorcades and Obama.  (Some photos below.)

During the demo there were speeches about the anti-social policies of the government and against spending public money on creating a security state or militarism. The heavy presence of the police and closing half the city to its residents was also condemned.

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Protest at City Council against Raising Prices

On May 26, members of ZSP and the Tenants Defense Committee protested the city's plans to raise prices for public transport, rent in municipal housing, water and sewage. The council was interrupted for a while by the protest until we agreed that we would like to hear the criticisms of the proposals from the opposition. We were invited to present four people to officially speak at the council, one on each topic. We also wanted to hear the opinion of Solidarity since there was a big functionary and one union rep also present. But they were not invited to speak and, although we protested, their written opinion was not read aloud in the session, meaning that we were the only people from society allowed to publicly express our opinion officially. (!) This is because they know that they will hear our opinion anyway - through the microphone on the podium, or through the bullhorn - they will not shut us up. They did try though; many city guards were brought in, expecting our protest and these were new people (as we suspect the city was not happy with the failure of the old ones to stop us). When we interrupted the session and were making speeches on the bullhorn, they tried to stop us, but we refused and managed to stay.

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You cannot ban our rage!

Rumors have been circulating in the press about the ban of the protest and action entitled „Barracks for Obama”, organized by the ZSP, to be followed by an anti-war demonstration. These are part of the demonstrations planned during the visit of Barack Obama and the presidents of other countries for the Meeting of Central European Presidents.

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Protest and Street Party in Front of Frontex HQ

On May 23 there was a protest and street party in front of the headquarters of Frontex in Warsaw. The action took place in the framework of the week of actions and events against borders. Activists gathered to protest the murderous policies of the agency that hunts migrants, leading to the increase of human tragedy.

Earlier in the day, friends and activists gathered on the spot where one year ago Maxwell Itoya was killed by a cop. Max was killed in a racist incident last year, also during the time of our international conference against Frontex. A description of the events can be found in the May 2010 archive of this blog.

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