Today the wildcat continued. One of the problems is that 2/3 of the drivers still went to work and the boss found strike breakers. The workers are a little in despair and the rest need to be convinced not to work. The best action right now is direct action but today no riot broke out
.
Small Wildcat Strike of Ukrainian Bus Drivers in Warsaw
The story got a few big articles in the mainstream press and we talked to bureaucrats including the moron in charge of city transport and the polticians against him. As a result of the pressure, the bossman came and paid people wads of cash in envelops, but it doesn't add up yet. A lot of the drivers are taking a long vacation now and going back to Ukraine. Bad decision but they seem to be waiting for the rest of the pay. We examined documentation and found illegal deductions, etc. After this "vacation", if things aren't settled probably something will happen. There are actions on buses planned as well as a visit to the bossman. As one can imagine, the mood got less radical after the bossman handed out envelops.
http://cia.bzzz.net/warsaw_slap_on_the_wrist_for_bus_companies
A bit of a follow-up to this story. The road transport inspectors went to PKS GM. The State Labour Inspectorate does not have competence over contract workers, only over employees. The company got a slap on the wrist. In the meanwhile, they found that even one guy was forced to drive almost 2 whole days without a break. The PKS GM bastards are saying in the media if they don't operate this way, they'll go out of business. There may be some small grain of truth to this: the public tender system is set up so that companies with the lowest prices win; they don't care about anything else.


Yesterday there was a small wildcat strike of Ukrainian bus drivers in Warsaw. 32 people refused to work due to the awful working conditions.
The bus drivers were employed by a work agency in Ukraine and were hired by PKS Grodzisk Mazowiecki. (PKS is the name of many bus companies. They were formerly state companies and privatized. This PKS is a so-called "worker-run" company under the scheme of worker shareholding.) PKS Grodzisk Mazowiecki (PKSGM) received a 10-year contract to provide bus service on several lines in Warsaw. The city claims that this is a "cheaper" option than hiring more people to work for ZTM which normally runs the buses in this city.
The bus drivers live and work in terrible conditions. They live in barracks in an isolated factory section on the Praga side of Warsaw. When they arrive, their passports are taken from them and not everybody received them back. They are made to work overtime - up to 16 hours a day. Normally they work about 300 hours per month, often with no days off. This is almost twice as much as Polish drivers work and is way above the legal maximum - which is 50 hours per week with two days off. On top of this, the firm takes money out of their salary for stuff like "exceeding the gas limits" or not cleaning the bus. That's right - after 16 hours of work, the drivers are expected to wash the buses when they get back to the depot.
There was at least one case of a dangerous accident a few days ago when one driver feel asleep and hit a tree.
Some members of ZSP in Warsaw made some contact a while ago with the drivers but initially they were reluctant to take any radical action. But apparently they've had enough. Members of ZSP who are in the union KFP's commission dealing with foreign and irregular workers have promised to support the drivers in any way they can. Also a couple Polish bus drivers supported this action and a couple of people from Solidarity contacted lawyers to help the workers. Members of Warsaw ZSP will take some further action on this matter in the coming days and are going this morning to the bus depot to monitor the situation.