PKP negotiations fail, strike to go ahead

"We had no other choice but to go on strike, because the talks in Warsaw are not bringing any effects. However if an agreement is signed we are ready to halt the action at any moment," said Ryszard Lach, the head of the Solidarity trade union in Tarnowskie Góry. All cargo and passenger trains are blocked, with the exception of trains transporting live animals, dangerous materials, or raw materials for a mill in Miasteczko Śląskie, so as not to halt its operations. Members of the PKP unions demand State Treasury financial aid for regional carriers, and restoration of 508 trains which were withdrawn a week ago. Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner has told the strikers that the government has already secured the amount demanded for regional carriers, which is zł. 538 million. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 6, www.onet.pl) A.K.