Railway union threatens strike over PKP privatization

Railway Solidarnosc labor unions have given parliamentarians an ultimatum to enact legislation for restructuring Polish State Railways (PKP) or risk a general strike after June. The latest Solidarnosc revelation that it will mobilize its 50,000 members by Jun. 30 if their demands are not met, has baffled both the PKP board and parliament. It is not certain if the other 189,000 rail workers not affiliated with Solidarnosc would also participate in the general strike. According to union leader Stanislaw Kogut, the Sejm has been working on the legislation to privatize the railway since 1998, but nothing is forthcoming despite the mounting financial troubles of PKP. On the other hand, according to Zdzislaw Denysiuk, chair of the Sejm subcommittee for PKP restructuring, the prolonged legislative exercise is the result of negotiations involving the unionists on the most amicable option for privatizing the railway. (Puls Biznesu, page 3) S.M.