GFTU BGCM Report 2019

Collective Bargaining National Collective bargaining, as in many of the recent EU accession states and in many industrial countries like Britain, Italy, France has been substantially eroded. It barely exists in Poland, and only the Teachers’ Union was cited as retaining a system similar to collective bargaining. Pay negotiations take place at employer/ plant/enterprise level. Union federations back this up with training and support and research. They do not directly negotiate. This debilitates the whole movement, particularly in the context of the employment structure. Following the transformations in the country in 1989 industry and the public sector was severely hit. The metalworkers’ union reported that in 1990 they had 200,000 members in 500 factories, in 2018 they have 20,000 members in 200 companies. In the previous socialist system they had over 80% density and collective bargaining, now they have 15% density. The situation is further weakened by the proliferation of very small employers throughout the economy. There are only 2,000 employing organisations in Poland with over 200 employees. The establishment of the Social Dialogue Council should give an opportunity for negotiations on a range of issues affecting all workers and the value of the National MinimumWage, but during our visit the OPZZ were in discussions on this at the SDC only to find that the government had set a figure prior to discussions so the meaningfulness of the negotiating commitment is questionable. The erratic and dictatorial nature of the current Polish government was also draining. When elected the Law and Justice Party dismissed swathes of the Civil Service with no right of appeal. They have destroyed and destabilised a number of institutions created by the relatively new constitution. Their first act was to abolish the Constitutional Court itself to minimise the scrutiny of the constitutionality of their actions. The Constitution had been originally voted on by over 50% of the population. The Law and Justice Party was riding rough shod over it with a mandate representing 16% of the population. This swift, often overnight amendment of legislation by the government was creating an unstable atmosphere and state structures were becoming unstable and one effect of that was people becoming increasingly indifferent to the fight for change as it would not be secured.

During our visits there was a very lively national debate and protests on the streets concerning the government’s attempts to introduce a new retirement age for Supreme Court Judges. Thgis was being introduced clearly to remove their opponents. In the context of a government overturning key national constitutional agreements, the prospects for lasting national collective bargaining agreements gaining confidence and adherence was considered weak. Pay and Conditions Metal workers described to us how pay levels were around 3,100 zloty a month in 1974. The current National MinimumWage in Poland which the unions had clearly fought hard to achieve was 2,100 zloty. While a direct currency conversion on this without taking into account many factors to do with the standard of living and prices generally, it should be noted that 2,100 zloty converts as £430 per month. It should be noted that the current Polish government had recently increased the NMW by 30%. In heavy industry we were informed that workers would start on around 3,000 zloty a month, but that average skilled factory earnings were around 5-6,000 zloty a month. For health and social care workers as far as we could determine levels of pay were not substantially higher than the minimum wage. Teachers’ Union representatives said much the same about levels of pay in teaching. The aspiration for union subscription rates was 1% of net salary. Union subscriptions are determined at enterprise level. Pay issues are compounded negatively argue the unions by the Polish tax system. They calculate that workers retain only around 40% of their real wages. There are two tax brackets in Poland, 18% and 35%. 90% of the population pay the 18% tax rate and of course there is typical tax avoidance at the higher earning ends of the scale on the already low rate. It is estimated that only 2.5% of the population pay the higher tax rate. Corporation tax is low at 19% and decreasing in some enterprises to 15% and 9%. The OPZZ is arguing for a lower starting tax threshold of 8,000 zloty per annum and two tax bands of 15% and 50%. The gender pay gap is estimated as on average 19%

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