Striking season

Polish doctors' protests over their pay and working conditions showed no signs of abating as WBJ went to press. Last Friday, the doctors went out to demonstrate in Gorzów and in Warsaw, where several dozen strikers blockaded ul. Banacha, one of the capital's busier streets, for two hours. In addition, many strikers started handing in declarations of their intent to leave their jobs, and some of them submitted actual resignations - in Podkarpacie region 270 doctors already handed in their resignations, the Rzeczpospolita daily reported. The union members are not satisfied with the government's offer of an additional zł.5.8 billion from the state budget to fund health services in 2008, and zł.852 million in additional health-care funding this year.

Last week also saw the outbreak of a teachers' strike, with over 370,000 participants demanding a 20-percent raise for teachers. The Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP), which organized the strike, declared that about 60 percent of schools took part in it. As in the case of the doctors' strike, the government declared that the strikers' demands were impossible to meet. However, Education Minister Roman Giertych from the League of Polish Families (LPR) declared his will to support them and said he would appeal for a 10-12 percent pay raise for the teachers during negotiations between government coalition parties. The next round of talks between the union and the government representatives are scheduled for June 5.

As if these weren't enough, the government is facing a strike by yet another group - railway workers. On Friday their labor union announced it would hold a warning strike on June 12. Railway workers want more social privileges, such as retirement after 40 years of work.

The strikes are not affecting the public sector alone - last Monday saw a two-hour warning strike in car-manufacturer Opel's factory in Gliwice in Upper Silesia, where the union members demanded an additional zł.500 bonus for their monthly salaries.