PKP rail strike threatens to paralyze the country

Today the entire country may be paralyzed by a railway strike. The beginning of the strike has been slated for 0.01 on Wednesday. All trains which depart before midnight will reach their destinations as scheduled. "However after midnight no train will depart" threaten the unions from the Polish State Railways (PKP). Although the strike may still be avoided, the chances are fat. At the close of Gazeta Wyborcza's Wednesday issue Infrastructure Minister Marek Pol was still negotiating with PKP unionists. Head of PKP's "Solidarność's Stanisław Kogut announced earlier that the strike would involve the entire country. The unionists are demanding the government come up with a new PKP restructuring plan, a zł. 800 million subsidy from the state budget as well as a withdrawal from the plan to privatize PKP Cargo. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1) A.Z.