Radom Nurses' Strike Ends With Crap Deal and Possible Fines

After 11 days of striking, the Nurses and Midwives' Union at the hospital in Radom signed a deal which the workers had rejected throughout the strike.

The hospital claims it has no money to pay the nurses a 110 euro monthly raise. The strike came on a wave of union-bashing by the government aimed at convincing the public that workers' struggles are unjustified. 29 years after the events of August 80, there is a growing tide of public resentment towards workers' struggles as capital manages to misdirect the frustrations of the working class.

In such an atmosphere, the strike accomplished little to nothing - just like other recent strikes in the sector. The failure of the Nurses' Union is a failure to conduct any successful long-term public outreach on their behalf, to combat the propaganda of the state and media and to act on a nationwide scale instead of in individual workplaces.

The worse part of the deal is the fact that the union may be subject to fines for the strike. This is an increasingly popular means of repression in Poland. In this particular case, the National Health Fund, without a court decision, may decide to impose contractual penalties on the hospital for "failure to provide services". The hospital cannot claim force majeure due to the strike.

More on questions of tactics:
http://www.pracownik.net.pl/radom_strike_raises_questions_about_tactics

More about the strike:
www.pracownik.net.pl