Polish politicians will earn more: President Duda signed a special regulation regulating the salaries of deputy ministers from the rank of undersecretary of state. This act regulates the salaries of MEPS as well. In short, PiS and oppositional politicians who support this move used a trick not to pass an act in the parliament, which would, undoubtedly, have been widely reported by the media and criticised by the society. importantly, the support of the government’s Speaker of the Sejm, Elżbieta Witek, as well as the opposition’s Speaker of the Senate, Tomasz Grodzki.
At the same time, the three trade union umbrella organisations, OPZZ, Solidarność and the Forum Związków Zawodowych, published a joint position after the failure of the Rada Dialogu Społecznego (Social Dialogue Council) talks. Trade unionists believe that the government’s macroeconomic forecasts are not worth much, the proposed increase in the minimum wage is too low in the difficult economic situation, inequalities are still deepening, and the idea to freeze wages in the public sector brings irreparable harm to citizens. The unions proposed a 12 per cent pay rise for the public sector and a 10.7 per cent increase in the minimum wage. However, the government did not agree to these proposals. In response, it proposed freezing salaries in the public sector, which in practice means lowering them. To this it added a projected increase in the minimum wage of barely 7 per cent.
The fight for access to abortion continues in Poland. On 28 July, the Speaker of the Sejm, Elżbieta Witek, officially accepted a notice of establishment of a committee which intends to bring in a bill opening up access to abortion. The Committee applied for registration at the Sejm at the end of May. It is co-founded by representatives of organisations fighting for women’s rights and the right to terminate pregnancy (Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet, Federacja na rzecz Kobiet i Planowania Rodziny, Aborcyjny Dream Team, Aborcja bez Granic, Łódzkie Dziewuchy, Centrum Praw Kobiet, Wielka Koalicja za Równością i Wyborem, Kobiety w Sieci) Akcji Demokracji, Zielonych and the parliamentary club that most consistently stands up for the rights of women citizens. It is, of course, the socialdemocratic Lewica.
Youth against Czarnek. On 27 July, for over 24 hours, three young people pinned themselves to the gate of the Ministry of National Education staged a hunger strike, on Szucha Street in Warsaw. Three activists from the LBGT+ Youth Forum collective initiated the action to oppose the Ministry’s hateful and exclusionary policies. This is one of many acts of opposition to Przemysłąw Czarnek, whose statements are met with youth demonstrations and actions on social media
No changes in the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) – the new head is an extreme right-wing historian. Karol Nawrocki has been chosen to head the institution that creates Polish memory politics: with a big budget it donates right-wing publications and educational events, the whole process is vital for creating governmental historical propaganda. Until now, Karol Nawrocki was mainly known for throwing out a band that played a Soviet was song from World War II, from the World War II Museum which he headed. This happened during the Night of the Museums in 2019.
IPN bez zmian. Będzie wciąż forsować prawicową wersję historii
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