Organising Polish workers
example of PCS Polish recruitment literature
Saturday 07 February marked the beginning of a PCS culture sector recruitment drive, focusing on Polish workers. Polish culture sector members attended a cross-union recruitment event organised jointly by the TUC and BERR (Department of Business,Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), to highlight the benefits of union membership to Polish workers within the UK. Migrant workers are among the most exploited workers in this country. Often on temporary contracts, they can find themselves working as cleaners or security staff, without access to full employment rights and protection. One extreme example of this comes from Ben Sellers, Northern TUC: ‘a Polish cleaner was working a four hour shift in a factory,from 12am to 4am. She was locked in. When she asked how she could get out,she was told she would have to wait until 8am. When she complained, she was handed a sleeping bag and told she could ‘take the job or leave it’. Miriad issues affect Polish workers in the UK, from unlawful deduction of wages, to employment agencies putting incorrect hours on wage slips. Community groups are overburdened by issues surrounding employment law.
Within PCS culture sector, we have a number of Polish workers.We hope that, through regular discussion and awareness, education and training, Polish workers are supported and encouraged to play an active role within our union.
During these particularly difficult times, workers who do not have English as their first language can find themselves bearing the brunt of exploitation and scapegoating. The issues affecting members across the board, can, therefore have far bigger ramifications on our most vulnerable members, and potential members. According to Robert Rusesky, of the Polish Consulate, ‘…following Poland’s inclusion in the EU in 2004,Polish workers have become a significant factor to local economies, due to their high efficiency and strong work ethic. They were willing to accept difficult challenges and working conditions.Due to the current climate,we need to prepare for hostility.We need to take some sort of action.’
It is crucial that PCS members work together to achieve results. Unfortunately, in this climate, the presence of agency workers can lead to workplace tension. Permanent staff can find themselves in competition with agency staff. Change across the board can only be brought through solidarity. Whilst agency workers find themselves increasingly marginalised, for example, exclusion from collective bargaining, it is imperative that we forge a strong and solid network to ensure that the best support is offered. The only way we can do this is through a solid campaign. Our aim now is to ensure we are accessible to Polish workers within our sector – through Polish language recruitment literature and a Polish language section on our website, which is currently in development. Our members are in the process of establishing a Polish members’ Network, which will exist not simply to raise awareness of PCS Culture Sector within the Polish community, but also to raise awareness of issues affecting Polish workers to members across our Union as a whole.
Never has there been such a crucial time in which to develop and build Migrant Workers’ Networks. Recent events at Lindsey oil refinery, where workers, justifiably angry due to high levels of unemployment, striked against the company’s policy of employing Portugese and Italian workers, rather than local workers, have been grossly distorted by the media to portray this action as ‘anti-migrant worker’. The far right have seized this opportunity to whip up hate and anger amongst small elements of these communities. We need to stand solid and united. An injury to one is an injury to all. We need to ensure the best possible conditions for all working people, everywhere. Involvement with projects such as the Migrant Workers’ Project, and others, is a small but signifigant step forward to achieving our shared goals. If you are organising around migrant workers, or it’s something you are interested in, please get in touch: lizzie@pcs.org.uk it would be good for us to share our experiences.
Filed under: Organising, Uncategorized
