Trade unionists from the Border Guard, Prison Service and State Fire Service disagree with the announcement of pay increases only for soldiers and police officers. The uniformed services believe that granting a pay increase to police officers as the only one of the services subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior is irresponsible and is intended to set the services against one another.

Firefighters from Bolesławiec will protest on Thursday. At noon, they will drive their vehicles in front of the headquarters and activate the sirens.

On January 10, representatives of the uniformed services will conduct an Italian strike, and on January 12, some of them will travel to Wrocław for a picket in front of the voivodeship office.

For now, the minister has announced that funds for the fire service and Border Guard are unlikely to be found, and certainly not in the same amount as for the police and military (PLN 300).

Statement by the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions on the protest by the uniformed services

The All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions expresses its support for the decision of the National Board of the “Florian” Firefighters’ Trade Union to undertake protest action in response to the government’s measures directed against the rights of officers of the State Fire Service, Prison Service and Border Guard.

Decisions made over the last three years by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s cabinet have caused the situation in these services to deteriorate rapidly, increasing dissatisfaction among uniformed-service employees and creating divisions.

In OPZZ’s assessment, this policy of the authorities is misguided and scandalous. The lack of indexation of officers’ pay, a clear pension plan and rationalisation of uniformed-service pay, along with the authorities’ continued disregard for the lack of wage increases for State Fire Service officers, is another manifestation of their contempt for employees of these services. We are outraged by the refusal to listen to and acknowledge social dialogue. The trade unions representing these groups of employees have undertaken numerous initiatives, talks and mediations.

Ignoring such an important voice—that of uniformed-service personnel, who enjoy justified public sympathy and respect—may lead to a breakdown of order and peace in the country on the eve of events that will attract the attention of Europe and the world in the near future. Ensuring the safety of citizens and visiting guests, whose opinion of the situation in Poland is shaped by services so thoroughly ignored by successive ministers, should be a priority. These decisions, negative for uniformed-service employees, are being made during a period of steady economic growth so widely publicised by the government through the media. The question therefore arises: who is benefiting from this growth?

For this reason, we fully stand in solidarity with the protest actions undertaken, demand, together with the protesters, that social dialogue be initiated, and call for an end to actions undermining the dignity of working people.

All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions
Warsaw, December 29, 2011

(information: KG)