Unemployed Defense Movement national protest march arrives in Warsaw

As part of a nationwide protest to attract attention to government inaction over unemployment, the Unemployed Defense Movement (ROB) called on the jobless to march from all parts of the country and to converge on Warsaw. People arrived in the capital from Gdansk Lodz and Katowice after walking all the way and holding rallies in cities along their routes. The action failed to gain mass support and less than a hundred protesters converged outside the Cabinet office. Demonstrators accused the government of ignoring their problems. "We demand a change in the unemployment law and to include our representatives in the Tripartite Commission," said ROB's coordinator Miroslaw Zeberek in front of Parliament. They argued that even small changes could do a lot to help them, such as providing free bus tickets. "Currently we have to walk to interviews," the protesters told journalists. (Zycie, p. 4) A.Z.