home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!ukma!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: ecopaulz@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Paul Zarembka)
- Subject: Observations on a month in Poland--summer 1992
- Message-ID: <1992Aug28.211045.26812@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: University at Buffalo
- Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 21:10:45 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 253
-
- Observations on a month in Poland--summer 1992
- Paul Zarembka (ECOPAULZ@UBVMS.BITNET)
-
- August 25, 1992
-
- I spent one month, mid-July to mid-August, in Poland, and talked with
- many persons of varying employments. Some of them I knew from prior visits
- in 1985 and 1979 and most conversations were in Polish with my Polish-born
- and raised wife as translator. I offer what I learned, fairly convinced that
- I am not misleading you.
-
- The free-market policies of governments since Jaruzelski stepped down as
- the last "communist" leader have been a disaster for ordinary persons. The
- U.S.$ is freely convertible at about 13,400 zloty per $. Workers earn in the
- neighborhood of 1,800,000 zloty per month ($134), some less (e.g., railway
- workers, 1,200,000), some more. If you are in an old apartment you may have a
- very low rent situation, but gas and electricity takes about 300,000 monthly
- for a small apartment (say, 40 square meters--400 square feet). If you live
- in Warsaw, public transportation costs 4000 per ride, no transfers included;
- 1800 in Krakow, no transfers included. The Krakow price would be more
- representative of other towns and cities. Trains are priced per kilometer
- and second-class from Warsaw to Krakow for one adult is about 88,000 without
- reservations (12,000 more with). One liter of gas costs 6600 for regular
- ($1.86 per U.S. gallon).
-
- Food prices outside of bread are U.S. prices: 11,000 for a dozen eggs,
- 55,000 for a kg. of good sausage, 90,000 for a kg. of ham. Bread is 5,700
- for a kg (I forgot to check the staple--potatoes). Computer prices are U.S.
- prices with the usual configuration; a Polish-made stereo system without
- speakers is 8,000,000 (good quality), a lower-quality Phillips with speakers,
- 6,400,000, again our prices after conversion. Beer is more expensive than
- here (11,000 but rather better), milk and soft-drinks about the same.
-
- Except bread, from what I could tell commodities traded internationally
- sold at prices we know here; items like public transportation (or vacation
- spots--see below) that do not "trade" are at much lower prices. In any case,
- how they get by on $136 monthly salaries is beyond me. I heard of a family
- of three full-time employed professionals, pulling in 6,000,000 monthly and
- having to watch when spending a 30,000.
-
- Getting into a newly-constructed apartment of 63 square meters, or 680
- square feet, required one family I met a principal of 340,000,000 zlotys,
- with 34,000,000 for downpayment and a 60% annual interest charge (given the
- anticipated inflation). They had just moved in in April, are expected to pay
- 400,000 for maintenance and 300,000 for the loan. They will probably never
- even start on the principal and so it is no more than a rent. (Since their
- moving in, a 60,000,000 downpayment is required for the same type apartment.)
- In this family both wife and husband are employed full-time, the husband also
- has just taken a second job (7500/hr. from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.--1,300,000
- monthly; 12,000/hr. from 3 p.m. to 7 or 8 but only for summer months--another
- 1,200,000). The husband is a skilled machinist and sees his ONLY possibility
- for getting it together as the possibility of a year's employment at a German
- firm in Germany which informed an agency in Krakow that it needs 2 workers
- with his specialty (but he doesn't know if he will be chosen).
-
- Industry is in a crisis. The government has no industrial policy other
- than to let the free market work its way. Freight traffic on the railroad is
- down by one-third (some due to substitution by trucking). An state-owned
- yarn factory in South Central Poland with reasonably modern technology has
- reduced its workforce from 1800 to 650, and is considered for liquidation, as
- its sales decline due to the recession/depression and competition from Asian
- manufactured imports. Banks are sometimes close to bankruptcy as loans are
- not repaid (I heard from this a bank accountant). State-owned farms are
- being let to run down and 78% being proposed for sale, collective-farms are
- not being supported and are deteriorating (but may still be viable), and one
- independent farmer summed the situation "we go from a stupid government to a
- stupider one". I saw no evidence of new industries (but I didn't go
- everywhere) and a painter (of buildings) in Warsaw said that there is no
- money for construction (but that buildings started are being completed).
-
- While I was there there were major strikes at a major copper plant and
- an auto plant, the latter having a joint agreement with Fiat, and these were
- covered daily by the news. (As an Appendix to this description, I include a
- news summary to the effect that all major unions EXCEPT Solidarity are
- supporting demands similar to the famous 21 Solidarity demands of 1980!).
- Unemployment compensation is about 750,000 for six months with nothing
- afterwards (the deepest crisis is probably get to come as these limits come
- into practice), and persons facing unemployment tried to moved into some type
- of "trading" (an engineer moving toward wholesaling shoes is one example).
-
- Having said this, many people told me that there were people with a lot
- of money in Poland, that the middle-class had been wiped out and the divide
- between rich and popular classes had widened sharply. I don't know
- personally any examples of how to make big money in Poland, but the
- descriptions told me of the corruption of the government and the
- privatization process were salient. One example was a factory valued
- independently as worth $20,000,000, sold off for $2,000,000 (the resulting
- criticism was leading to an investigation of the official in charge).
-
- Abortion is no longer available in hospitals, but may be available
- privately. I met no one that supported the Church's position and many even
- volunteered (when discussing some other issue) that the parliament (Sejm)
- wasted its time debating this issue and thereby avoided the economic crisis.
- I was told several times that public opinion polls did not support
- prohibiting abortion (the chasm may be similar to the Italian situation where
- a public referendum made abortion legal). I got widely varying stories on
- the cost of abortion--5,000,000 to 6,000,000 in Krakow to 15,000,000 in
- Warsaw. I heard that Slovakians advertise openly in Southern Poland for
- Slovak abortions across the border (where is it legal and apparently not an
- issue, even though Catholic) at 2,000,000. The Church hierarchy is hammering
- on the issue, e.g., at Sunday sermons--I heard that one such sermon in
- Czestochowa (the most important religious city in Poland) named a doctor (who
- was in church that day) "a murderer" and that that doctor angrily later told
- the priest that many of his abortions were for nuns having had relations with
- priests!
-
- When I write that I met no one who supported the Church on the abortion
- issue, I include some seriously practicing Catholics. My personal evaluation
- is that the opposition to banning abortion is STRONGER in Poland than in the
- U.S. (regardless of the temporary results). The Church and the government
- are so closely tied together on the economy and abortion issues, and people's
- ability to sustain a larger family so much weaker, that people cannot cop-out
- of the issue. Supporters of banning abortion argue that abortion is a last
- refuge of communism existing in Poland, but that kind of argument doesn't
- carry a lot of weight anymore.
-
- Criticism of the Church, particularly for playing too much politics, is
- widespread. Criticism is even coming from younger priests--which was
- unheard-of before. I was told that the Christian Democratic Union is afraid
- of new elections, since the decline in support for the Church will be felt in
- their party's support. Many times I was told, as one criticism of him, that
- Walesa is always surrounded by priests. Incidentally, there are some 600 new
- churches being built in Poland and often they are quite large structures
- (several times I was told that the money comes from worshipers--solicited
- perhaps by priests going to their homes, or from wealthy donations, or from
- help from another city). One woman was absolutely furious with the priests
- who live in fine houses, with a car, and cable (thru satellite) TV, and
- telling worshipers that the new stain glass window is more important than
- clothing for their children. (Later I asked her if violence against the
- Church a la the Spanish Civil War could occur in Poland and she thought that
- that condition is ripening; when she repeated my question some days later to
- an acquaintance from Warsaw--actually an economist whose name I wasn't
- told--he replied that that could take quite some time--like a generation or
- more.)
-
- Walesa himself seems very unpopular. The best that is said of him is
- that he was a good union leader, but not as a President. Almost everyone I
- heard criticizes his inability to speak decent Polish (I heard this not only
- from professionals, but also workers), says that he makes stupid remarks, and
- I heard of one open sexism (asked what he thought of working with the new
- female prime minister he is reported to have replied, "I like my women under
- me"). By the way, no one I talked to had ever heard of the prime minister
- before she became took office (even a professor of law and political science)
- and none expected her government to last long.
-
- Solidarity is no longer what it was. In fact, there is now a
- Solidarity-80 union as a reaffirmation of original principles, but the
- OPZZ--the former "communist" union--is rising in strength. One person said
- that Solidarity is "hated"; another that there is extreme disappointment that
- the Solidarity leaders that were supposed to have "integrity" were just out
- for themselves and fighting among each other all the time; and many said that
- people feel "cheated".
-
- The most popular newspaper now in Poland is apparently NIE (No), run by
- the former press secretary for the Polish United Workers ["communist"] Party,
- Urban. It's very critical and anti-capitalist. Several people I met
- described Poland as 18th or 19th century capitalism, some as modern African
- capitalism. (One woman told me personally that she remembers very well a
- critique of capitalism I told her in 1985 and that now she sees it directly
- in front of her eyes.) Several said that Poland has a "clerical" regime.
-
- I asked many people what they expected over the next five years. There
- was general agreement that what is happening cannot go on. Some used the
- word "revolution", some thought a military government possible, one, a return
- to the prior system (with modification). One director of a theatre thinks
- his countrypersons are stupid (not saying this so much from an elitist
- position but rather how much they had bought in earlier to the democracy and
- freedom rhetoric). While no one I meant was talking any longer the language
- of freedom and democracy (one told me to say that there is only democracy for
- the top 5% in Poland), no one I met much criticized the Soviets or the
- Americans; they seemed more concerned with the political and economic failure
- of their own government. (One did mention that Poland did nothing more that
- switch from one dominator to another.) Twice I was asked who would win the
- elections here and I said Clinton; one replied that that is bad for Walesa
- because he loves Bush.
-
- An engineer at the yarn factory told me sadly how the vacations
- sponsored by the union or company is a thing of the past. He said he and
- other workers could take sailing vacations at very modest cost on lakes in
- Poland that had vacation housing owned by the plants. Now those
- possibilities seem to have been sold off and vacation too expensive. My
- family spent one week in a mountain vacation on the Slovak border and was
- told that vacationers are way down this year from last (an ice-cream sales
- woman told us the same). Actually, the vacation housing we stayed at is very
- similar to what Polish workers used to have--one or two rather small rooms
- with meals (not bad) included and served at the same time for everyone at the
- same hours (8, 1, and 6) and recreational facilities available along with a
- bar. Eating like this had its pluses and minuses--you spent much less time
- on the eating issue as they did an excellent job of getting food on the table
- for about 100 persons in just a few minutes--always a soup, meat, potatoes,
- vegetable, and a compote (fruit-based drink made with sugar) and usually cake
- or fruit for dessert. On the other hand, it's like listening to a classical
- music station--there's probably little more than one available so you take
- what comes down (actually this is not true in Buffalo since we have one of
- our own and two from Toronto). Anyway, my three-person family paid about
- 2,400,000 for a week there (housing and meals).
-
- As one example of the "commodization" of Polish life, one family told me
- that used school books of children are now being re-sold--unheard of before
- (you gave them away to family or friends).
-
- To a left-wing person, you hate to see all the street names that were
- changed--some 140 in Krakow. Even the street honoring the Soviet general who
- kept the Nazi army from burning Krakow toward the end of the war has been
- re-named (is there no shame?). Many are re-named to religious figures.
-
- If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them or get the answer. I
- hope this has not been too long.
-
-
- APPENDIX: A NEWS ARTICLE ON UNION DEMANDS AND STRIKES
-
- Subject: Wage protests spreading in Poland
- Date: 17 Aug 92 16:28:40 GMT
-
- WARSAW, Poland (UPI) -- Angry workers stepped up their demands for
- higher wages Monday, threatening a multimillion-dollar French-Polish
- auto deal, and a presidential spokesman warned there are limits to what
- the government can do.
- Two unions, Solidarity-80 and the Federation of Miners, began a
- strike at the Czeczott coal mine in southeastern Poland Monday.
- Not far away, the FSM small-car factory in Bielsko-Biala announced it
- was halting production for five days because of a shortage of parts from
- the nearby FSM factory at Tychy, where workers have been on strike for
- more than two weeks.
- Company spokesman Boguslaw Cieslar said the strike constitutes a
- growing threat to FSM's recent deal with Fiat, under which the Italian
- automaker agreed to take over controlling interest and invest some $2
- billion over the next five years.
- Meanwhile, a total of six unions have announced a campaign of
- coordinated protests and strikes Tuesday. They said their purpose is to
- persuade authorities to discuss a list of 21 demands concerning radical
- changes in the economy and the way the country is run.
- The unions include Solidarity-80, an extremist offshoot of the
- Solidarity labor union, the former communist trade federation OPZZ, the
- Miners' Union, the Rail Engineers' Union, the Rajmund Moric Miners'
- FEderation, and the Samoobrona (Self Defense) farmers' group.
- The list is patterned after the famous 21 demands issued bySolidarity in 1980, which eventually led to an accommodation with the
- then-communist government.
- The strikers claim the government's tax and credit policies make it
- impossible for even the most efficient state enterprises to survive.
- OPZZ announced a series of protests, while the Rail Engineers' Union
- promised to halt certain trains while Samoobrona said it would block
- roads.
- Solidarity's national coordinating council, called Siec or `
- ``network'', met on Friday in Gdansk but rejected a proposal to form a
- national strike committee.
- The government of Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka, who took office July
- 10, is preparing a proposed social compact that envisages reaching an
- accommodation with the nation's unions, then following up with a plan to
- either make state enterprises more efficient or liquidate them.
-
-
-