Appeal for sending protest letters
Jan 1 2008
OK - just a bit of background here:
the demands of the Budryk miners to end pay discrimination are strictly economic and there's no @ structure working there. But we know some of the rank and file workers. They've been very supportive of different workers' struggles. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a support campaign to help them yet.
The bastards on the management board of Budryk wrote to the state security agency and public prosecutor's office. There are special laws which can be used to prevent strikes which lead to big losses for the State Treasury. Probably they want to repress the workers now.
We'd thought it would be nice to get some letters sent in support, especially since some of those people have supported other workers - something quite rare and nice in Poland. There are a number of unions in Budryk, but if you look at this one's page, you can see even how people are sleeping at the mine. http://zzkadrabudryk.republika.pl/
Miners are the victims of mass media propaganda which tells people that they are all leeches on state subsidies, even though Budryk is a very profitable mine.
Again, there's no bigger radical struggle here, but if anybody feels inclined to take a couple of minutes to send a protest letter, go here:
http://cia.bzzz.net/send_a_protest_letter_in_support_of_budryk_miners
There are emails and fax numbers.
We've had some good talks with some miners in the past and there are some individuals who like anarchist ideas so they'll be happy about this support for sure!
Laure wrote:
New developments in occupational strike and negotiations with JSW.
1. Today, Jan. 2, there were supposed to be talks between the strikers and JSW. JSW cancelled the strikes and said they have nothing to offer the miners.
2. On Dec. 31, the management of Budryk informed the state security agency and public prosecutors' office of "illegal acts" in Budryk and claimed that the workers were causing considerable economic damage to the State Treasury.
3. The management has repeatedly said that the strike is illegal and wants it repressed by state organs.
4. The miners decided to take the occupation underground. A group of miners went underground but then the manager somehow cut the elevators and is physically preventing access to other miners. He is also preventing the people who are responsible for safety (i.e. measuring methane levels) from going down to the mines, which is a clear violation of the law on safety in mines. The director of the mine has stated that he thinks the miners could be up to acts of sabotage, that's why he shut down the elevators. This also means that the striking miners who went down cannot easily come back up, unless the director agrees. This will obviously be a point of tension and could lead to a violent struggle quite shortly.
Another things should be added, although not directly related to
Budryk. Unions are threatening a general strike in another mining
group – Kompania Węglowa. The situation there shows a little something about the politics of mining in Poland.
First, Kompania Węglowa announced that it has signed new contracts for coal supply in 2008 where the price of coal is raised up to 20%. On average, they get about 11% more for coal than in 2007. Workers want a wage increase and argue that since there is more money being paid for coal, the company can afford it.
The negotiations are being carried out of course at the state level.
So there is some "social dialog" bureaucrats involved. The social
dialog bureaucrats however refused to be involved with any
negotiations with Budryk since they've also declared the Budryk strike illegal.
Budryk management is spreading false information about the strike. At least 4 unions voted to go on strike but management is claiming that the workers didn't really agree to the strike and even tried to pretend that most workers don't support the strike. The "social dialog" people are clearly on management's side and have no interest in investigating the situation. Apparently also safety officials don't want to get involved in the current situation where the elevator was blocked. So the Budryk miners are up against a collaboration of forces that want to repress them.
Thanks to people who already sent a protest letter. Please send one if you haven't.
http://cia.bzzz.net/send_a_protest_letter_in_support_of_budryk_miners