Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1992
POLAND
Poland has moved from a Communist state to a multiparty democracy with a lively,
independent Parliament and a vigorous free press, and it continues to consolidate
democratic institutions and processes. The minority coalition government of Jan
Olszewski that was formed after the free and democratic elections of October 1991
resigned after a vote of no confidence in the Sejm (lower house) in June. Five weeks
later, a new minority Government under Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka was voted
into office.
In November President Lech Walesa signed into law the so-called Little Constitution
intended as a transition document while work continues on a "lai^e" (permanent)
constitution to replace the much-amended Communist-era Constitution of
1952. The Little Constitution clarifies, among other things, the division of powers
among the President, the Prime Minister, and Parliament. The President also sent
to Parliament a proposed bill of rights, outlining fundamental civil rights and freedoms
and intended for incorporation into the niture large constitution. The Sejm
(lower house) continued debate on a new electoral law embodying proportional representation
with a qualifying threshold of 5 percent.
ElTorts to restructure the Office of State Security (responsible for intelligence and
counterintelligence) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs were complicated when
the Olszewski government sent to Parliament a list of alleged secret police collaborators.
The resulting storm of protest led to a vote of no confidence in the government
and the replacement of both the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister
of Defense. Regular police forces, meanwhile, improved their operations and reduced
the incidence of brutality towards persons in custody. Total military expenditures
for 1989, the last year for which the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
conducted a detailed analysis, were nearly $15.5 billion. Future expenditures can be
expected to decrease as the Government continues to reduce its military force levels.
Continuing the transformation from a centrally planned to a market economy, Poland
in 1992 kept its economic reform program on course. Although the (Jovemment
made little headway in privatizing large state-owned enterprises, the share of the
private sector in the national economy continued to grow. A larger than planned
budget deficit, unemployment at about 14 percent, and rising prices associated in
the public mind with reform efforts lessened public support for reform and contributea
to a series of industrial strikes during the summer and fall, to which the Government
responded firmly without major concessions.
In the area of human rights legislation. Parliament passed a broadcast law on December
29 and continued to work on a new labor law and penal code to strengthen
the legal framework for human rights and to reconcile laws passed during the Communist
period with democratic practices. The typical human rights violations that
characterized the former Communist rule were an exception in 1992. However, almost
all broadcast media were still under government control, and for the first time
since the overthrow of communism, a citizen was convicted of insulting the President.
Polish society continued to grapple with issues of social, gender, and ethnic
intolerance.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing.
There were no reports of killings for
political motives by the Government or by domestic political groups.
b. Disappearance.
There were no reports of abductions, secret arrests, or clandestine
detention by police or other official security forces.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
There were no reported allegations of torture.
By all accounts, incidents of police brutality declined from 1991. Human rights
monitors, however, continued to report a number of beatings of persons in police
custody not yet charged with a crime. The Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection
(Ombudsman) continued to receive such allegations regularly. Most of these allegations
charged the police with excessive use oi force at the time of arrest.
According to the Ombudsman, local prosecutors, to whom the allegations are forwarded,
often conduct incomplete investigations, are biased in favor of the police,
and rarely find the police responsible for excessive use of force. Apart from the prosecutor's
office, no otner institution is responsible for investigating complaints of police
brutality. The Senate Office of Intervention, which started an informal investigation
in September 1991, found few cases of alleged police brutality and did not
think the problem warranted a full investigative report.
According to civil rights monitors, overall prison conditions improved in 1992.
Most observers attribute this improvement to a decision by the Ministry of Justice
allowing greater access to prisons by human rights monitoring institutions—such as
the Ombudsman and the Helsinki Committee. There are still some deficiencies,
however, and a few prisons lack minimally acceptable standards.
While overall conditions in adult prisons improved, several independent investigations,
including those conducted by the Helsinki Committee and the Senate Office
of Intervention, confirmed widespread accounts that conditions in juvenile reformatories
were worse than those in adult prisons. In some reformatories, authorities
often overused solitary confinement as a means of punishment, and guards beat juvenile
inmates regularly. Many detention centers were unsanitary, and no program
to correct these deficiencies has been set up.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
There were very few reported instances
of arbitrary arrest or detention. Reform of the judicial system, begun in 1990, has
done much to eliminate serious violations of due process. The Sejm Justice and Legislative
Committees continued to work on a new criminal code at year's end.
Polish law allows for a 48-hour detention period before authorities are required
to bring formal charges. Detainees are usually denied access to a lawyer during this
period. Once a prosecutor presents the legal basis for a formal investigation, the law
guarantees the detainee access to a lawyer. A detainee may be held under "temporary"
arrest for up to 3 months and may challenge the legality of his arrest
through appeal to the district court. A court of law may extend this pretrial confinement
every 3 months until the trial date. Human rights groups state that in 1992
detainees waited on average between 6 and 12 months before trial. In rare cases,
the confinement period lasted over 2 years. As a rule, judges do not allow bail because
they suspect that the accused may cause further harm to society, thwart collection
of evidence, or otherwise hinder full investigation of the case.
There is no exile.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Poland has a three-tiered court system, consisting
of regional and provincial courts, and a Supreme Court that is divided into five divisions—
military, civil, criminal, labor, and family. Judges are nominated by the National
Judicial Council and appointed by the President for life.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Once formal charges
are filed, the defendant is allowed to study the charges and consult with an attorney,
who is provided at public expense if necessary, before a trial date is set. Defendants
must be present during trial and may present evidence and confront witnesses
in their own defense. Most cases are tried in open court. The court, however,
retains the rarely used option of closing a trial to the public in some circumstances,
such as divorce cases, trials in which state secrets may be disclosed, or to protect
public morality.
At the end of a trial, the court renders its decision orally. The court then has 7
days to prepare a written decision. A defendant has the right to appeal within 14
days of the written decision. Appeals may be made, among other grounds, on the
basis of new evidence or procedural irregularities. In regional and provincial courts,
a panel consisting of a professional judge and two lay assessors tries criminal cases.
The seriousness of the offense determines which court will try the case.
In May the Sejm passed a resolution requiring the Interior Minister to make
available a list of high-ranking Polish officials who, between 1945 and 1990, served
as agents of the Communist security forces, but it provided no means of redress for
those who believed they were wrongly accused. On June 4, on the basis of this resolution,
the Ministry of the Interior sent to parliamentary clubs (groups of deputies
from the same party or from like-minded parties) lists of alleged secret police collaborators.
Protests over the lists precipitated a vote of no confidence in the government.
Following the Olszewski government's dismissal. Parliament took no further
action on the release of the lists. In late 1992, a Sejm committee continued work
on reconciling several bills dealing with the fate of former Communists and secret
police collaborators in public life.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
Polish
law forbids arbitrary forced entry into homes. Search warrants issued by a prosecutor
arc required in order to enter private residences. In emergency cases when a
prosecutor is not immediately available, police may enter a residence with the approval
of the local police commander. In the most urgent cases in which there is
not time to consult with the police commander, police may enter a private residence
after showing their official identification. Polish police rarely abused search warrant
procedures in 1992. The Government docs not arbitrarily monitor private mail or
telephones.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
These freedoms are provided for in the Constitution
and exist in practice.
Polish citizens express their opinions freely both in public and privately. Under
the current Penal Code, however, persons who insult a state body may be sentenced
to up to 2 years in prison. In August a district court handed a 3-year suspended
sentence to a person for insulting President Walesa. The insults involved common
vulgarities. Similarly, in October another district court gave a 2-year suspended sentence
to former newspaper editor for publishing an offensive remark about the Solidarity
Trade Union. Unties of these decisions pointed out that they set a dangerous
precedent, reflected unequal application of the law, and were subtle forms of censorship.
Print media in Poland are independent, uncensored, and politically diverse. The
Government owns a controlling interest (51 percent) in one major newspaper. No
barriers exist to the establishment of private newspapers other than readership demand
and capital.
Broadcast media are not yet fully developed and are still mainly under the control
of the Government, which owns and operates the two national television channels,
eight local television stations, and two television studios. The ei^t regional stations
broadcast as little as half an hour daily (as in Poznan) or as much as 7 hours daily
(as in Katowice). The Grovemment also operates 5 national radio channels and 16
regional stations.
There was debate about the Government's role in broadcast media and the appro-
Sriate level of ofiical control, including in the appointment of key personnm. In
[arch the Olszewski government, frustrated with \wiat it perceived to be biased reporting,
replaced the head of the Polish Television Information Agency (TAI), which
produces all six Polish daily news broadcasts. The new head of TAI, in turn, made
personnel changes aimed at combating the alleged antigovemment bias of television
news and removing "former Communists." The conflict between the Government and
the press diminished after the TAI head himself was fired by the head of Polish
Radio and Television and after Olszewski's government fell m early June. While
also expressing dissatisfaction with news coverage, the Suchocka Government avoided
conflict with the news media.
In December the Sejm passed a broadcast law and sent it to the President for signature.
The law provides a mechanism for the issuance of broadcast licenses and
would end the State's official monopoly on broadcasting. In June 1991, Parliament
removed the power to grant broadcasting licenses from the Ministry of Telecommunications
but did not transfer it anjrwhere else. In the resulting legal vacuum,
several new private television stations began broadcasting in ma)or cities. In
addition, over 30 private radio stations were on the air in late 1992. Many of these
took to the airwaves without official sanction. Unlicensed broadcasters have been ordered
to shut down untU they obtain licenses. However, it is unclear how the Government
can execute these orders.
The growing number of radio and television stations, those officially sanctioned
and those not, expose the public to diverse political and social commentary. Raddo
Free Europe also broadcasts directly from Warsaw on medium wave. Some political
figures beueve the lack of government control wiU lead to chaos, while others want
public television to be a tool to address societal problems. The broadcast law requires
public radio and television to "respect the reli^ous feelings of the audience
and in particular honor the Christian system of values.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Poles enjoy the freedom to join
together formally and informally to promote nonviolent causes and protest government
policies. Permits are not required for public meetings, but organizers must obtain
permits from local authorities, which issue them routinely. For large demonstrations,
organizers are also required to inform the local police of their planned
activities. The authorities do not interfere with otherwise peaceful and
nondisruptive demonstrations even if permits have not been sought. With government
approval, private associations are permitted to organize. Such approvm is almost
always granted and is not withheld for political or other arbitrary reasons.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of conscience and
belief, and citizens enjoy the freedom to practice any religion. Poland is overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic. Religious groups may organize, select, and train personnel,
solicit and receive contributions, publish periodicals, and engage in consultations
with coreligionists without government interference. There are no government restrictions
on establishing and maintaining places of worship.
The Grovemment does not interfere with the practice of minority religions. Eastern
Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, and much smaller Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim
congregations meet freely. Minority religions occasionally report that workers of
their faith are more likely than Catholics to be dismissed from failing enterprises.
Ukrainian Catholics also consider as religious discrimination refusal oy local government
officials to return churches and other property that used to belong to the
Ukrainian Catholics prior to expropriation by Communist authorities.
A Ministry of Education directive in April required students or their parents to
choose between a course in religion or one in ethics or neither, tmd instructed that
a grade for the course be indicated in student transcripts. Previously, a combined
reugion and ethics course was compulsory. The Ministry of Education ruling also
permits the pa3nment of religion teachers from public funds, the placement of religious
syinbols in classrooms, and the saying of prayers before and after classes. The
Commissioner for Human Rights Protection in August requested the Constitutional
Tribunal to review this decision on the grounds that it violates the freedom and anonymity
of religious beliefs.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Polish citizens and legal permanent residents are no longer required to
register with the police each time they change their place of residence. Polish citizens
are able to obtain passports for worldwide travel.
Poland's approach to migration issues is framed by its desire to strengthen ties
to the European Community (EC) and adopt migration policies consistent with those
of the EC. Poland has placed more emphasis on stopping illegal transit into neighboring
countries, particularly Grermany, and has signed readmission agreements
with the Schengen Group of European countries, whereby Poland agrees to accept
the return of Polish citizens who do not possess proper travel documents or who are
residing abroad illegally. Similarly, in September 1991, Poland signed the 1951 Geneva
Convention on refiigees, taking on the legal responsibility to process refugees.
In 1992 Poland often served as a way station to Western Europe and Scandinavia
for a number of economic migrants and illegal immigrants from the east and south.
Beginning in May, refugees from the former Yugoslavia began to arrive in Poland
in significant numbers. Border guards permittea entry to persons with valid passports
and enough money for transit.
Most would-be refugees want to settle farther west; they fear that if they make
formal application in Poland, their cases will not be considered by other refugee offices.
In 1992 fewer than 50 people applied for asylum status in Poland, compared
with 2,236 applications in 1991.
Poland has abandoned visa requirements for almost all countries in Europe, including
its East European neighbors and the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Visitors from the former Soviet Union are required to obtain an invitation from a
permanent resident of Poland to be presented at the border. Because of the laive
number of Romanians identified at Poland's borders as seeking to enter illegally, the
Government requires Romanians to show enou^ money for a minimum 5-day visit,
i.e., $100. All visitors and temporary workers have the right to stay for up to 90
days and may apply for extensions to the Ministry of Interior. Polish law empowers
the Ministry of Interior to intern and deport foreigners for violation of immigration
status.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
Poland is a multiparty democracy in which all citizens 18 years of age and older
have the right to vote. In October 1991, the Polish people freely elected 460 members
to the Sejm (lower house of Parliament) and 100 Senators. The new Parliament
included representatives of 29 political parties and formations.The government
headed by Prime Minister Olszewski after those elections was dismissed the following
June by a vote of no confidence in the Sejm. In July the Sejm voted in a new
coalition government led by Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka, the first female Prime
Minister in Polish history.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation
of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The Ombudsman was established by law in 1987 as an independent body with
broad authority to investigate alleged infringement of civic rights or liberties. In
1992 the Ombudsman aggressively investigated public grievances and brought several
executive or legislative actions and decrees that allegedly violated human rights
before the Constitutional Tribunal, which determines the constitutionality of laws
and administrative regulations. In some cases the intercession of the Ombudsman
alone was enough to effect resolution. According to the Ombudsman, the Government
has cooperated with the Commissioner's Office.
Two other major institutions, the Helsinki Committee and the Senate Office of
Intervention, created in 1989, investigate a wide range of grievances and are com867
mitted to political objectivity. Both groups conducted human rights investigations
without government interference. Leading members of these organizations report
that the Government harbors a positive and helpful attitude towards human ri^ts
investigations.
There are no restrictions on visits by international organizations for human rights
purposes.
Section 5. Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities and against women is prohibited
by law; however, a degree of social prejudice against members of national
minorities exists.
In 1992 the Government made efforts to improve conditions for ethnic minorities
living in Poland. Bilateral treaties with Germany and Belarus included sections
guaranteeing the right of national minorities to cultivate their national identities.
Currently there are no restrictions on Polish citizens from non-Polish ethnic groups
holding office. At present the German minority is represented by seven Members
of Parfiament who nave formed a German caucus.
The German minority, especially in southern Poland, achieved several cultural
goals in 1992. About 30 percent of primary and secondary schools in Opole province
offer some instruction in the German language. The number of churches conducting
Mass in German has risen from 8 in 1990 to over 100 in 1992. German minorities
are well represented in local politics; they publish local newspapers and broadcast
on radio.
Prejudice against Germans resulted in several instances of violence. Four Polish-
Americans were attacked by a group of Poles in a mountain resort, apparently because
the Polish-Americans had a rental car with German license plates; the
attackers accompanied their assaults with shouts of "Grerman swine." Two policemen
who witnessed the incident reportedly failed to intervene actively. In October
"skinheads" in Krakow attacked three German truckdrivers with clubs, baseball
bats, and knives, killing one of them. Police reaction was swift and vigorous; by the
next morning, they had apprehended all the attackers. Skinheads also committed
several attacks on Arab students.
Several Ukrainian schools and Ukrainian newspapers opened in 1992. Some
Ukrainian communities complained, however, that local authorities did not provide
sufficient levels of support. Other ethnic minorities—Lithuanians and Belarusians
—
experienced some local discrimination.
Romanians (predominantly Gypsies) continued to cross Poland's borders in large
numbers. While physical attacks against Gypsies were isolated, Gypsies continued
to be discriminated against. In September and October, the Polish National Front,
a small radical "skinhead" organization, hung placards in several Polish cities calling
on Poles to expel Gypsies from Poland. Also in October, a group of Polish youths
threw stones at Gypsy homes and set fire to nearby bushes. These incidents preceded
the court's verdict on the 1991 anti-Gypsy riots in Mlawa. In late Octooer,
a Warsaw court handed prison terms of between 6 months and 2y2 years to 17 of
the several hundred participants in the Mlawa riots in which many Gypsy homes
and cars were plundered or demolished. Ten of the sentences were suspended.
Some observers noted a rising trend of intolerance toward some social groups,
such as the victims of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Attempts
in July to establish a U.S. Government-supported center in the Warsaw suburb of
Laski for children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had to be
abandoned because of the local communitjr's violent protests, including the stoning
and setting on fire of the houses at the site. Local police began an investigation,
but no findings were reported and no arrests made by year's end.
Polish law guarantees equal rights for women. The Constitution provides for equal
rights, regardless of sex, and gives women equal rights with men in all fields of public,
political, economic, social, and cultural Ufe, including equal remuneration for
equal work. Despite these legal guarantees, women continue to be discriminated
against in the workplace. According to the Ombudsman, the laws do not adeqpiately
address equality in hiring practices. Although women work in a broad variety of
Srofessions and occupations, advertisements often continue to designate jobs by gener
as well as by age. Firms sometimes hire men even when a woman is more (jualified.
Some of the hardships caused by the transition to a market economy fall disproportionately
on women who are more likely than men to be laid oft. In some
cases, laws ostensibly designed to "protect" women are sometimes used to discriminate
against them, as in the case of occupations barred to women for safety or
health reasons or when women are required to retire earlier than men. Although
the Constitutional Tribunal eliminated the latter provision in the case of women
university professors in September 1990, women are sometimes forced into earlier
retirement in many other professions.
Scattered anti-Semitic incidents continued in 1992. The neo-Fascist Polish National
Community, a small but vocal group with approximately 4,000 members, was
responsible for many of them. In February and in April, the Polish National Community
held demonstrations during which they chanted anti-Semitic slogans and
burned the Israeli flag. The group's leader, Boleslaw Tejkowski, was brought to trial
in March for defaming the Government, the Catholic Church, and Jews. The court
ordered that Tejkowski be detained in July after he refused to undergo psychiatric
tests to determine fitness to stand trial. Tejkowski, who went into hiding in April,
is currently being sought by the police.
Polish officials and political leaders strongly condemned anti-Semitic incidents. In
one concrete step, the newly established, government-sponsored "Remembrance
Foundation" is acting as a partner to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of
America's Heritage Abroad, which is negotiating an agreement with the Government
on preserving Jewish cultural monuments in Poland.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right ofAssociation.
AU workers, including the police and frontier guards,
have the right to establish and to join trade unions of their own choosing. In turn,
unions have the right to join labor federations and confederations, which have the
right to affiliate with international labor organizations. Within the context of the
November 1992 negotiations on the so-called Pact on State Enterprises (which
would directly involve workers in the process of restructuring state firms), the Government,
employers, and trade unions will recommend changes to the 1991 laws
concerning trade union rights and collective bargaining.
According to the law that was in effect throughout 1992, as few as 10 persons may
form a trade union, and a founding committee of 3 persons must register the union
in the appropriate provincial court. A court decision to refuse registration is subject
to appeal to an appeals court. Interbranch national unions and national interbranch
federations must register with the provincial court in Warsaw. As of September
1992, 4 national interbranch federations were registered along with some 11 other
major independent industrial branch unions and 3 agricultural unions. Three new
unions were registered in 1992: the Alliance of Mining Supervisors "Kadra," the
farmers' trade union "Samoobrona," and the Confederation for Independent Poland
(KPN) trade union "Kontra."
The Independent Self-(joveming Trade Union (NSZZ) Solidarity is a national federation
affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the
World Confederation of Labor. Solidarity has a membership of 2.2 million, with
roughly 81 percent paying dues. The National Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ), the
Communist-origin trade union federation registered in 1983 as the sole legal alternative
to the then repressed NSZZ Solidarity, is affiliated with the Communistdominated
World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). It claims a membership of
4.7 million, but that figure is widely regarded as exaggerated. The OPZZ does not
collect dues, and the (jovemment i;i 1992 had yet to institute a process by which
a union's claim to representation can be verified. The other federations are the
Christian Trade Union Solidarity, a small spin-off from mainstream Solidarity registered
in January 1992, with some 24,000 members, and SolidariU' '80, the militant
rival of mainstream Solidarity, with about 200,0(>0 members. There are several
other independent industrial branch unions.
All these union organizations operate independently of state control, and most do
not have organic links to political parties. The OPZZ, in alliance with the post-Communist
Social Democrats of the Republic of Poland (SDRP), ran candidates in the
1991 elections under the banner of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). Several
OPZZ leaders, including its chaii"person Ewa Spychalska, are members of the SLD
parliamentary club. Organized labor, despite its divisions, is recognized as a major
actor on the national economic and political scene.
The Trade Union Act of 1991, although less restrictive than its predecessor, prescribes
a lengthy process before a strike may be legally launched. During this period,
the law, when strictly adhered to, provides several opportunities for employers
to challenge a pending strike—including the threat of legal action. An employer
—
the Act makes no distinction between state-owned and private firms—must start negotiations
the moment a dispute begins. Negotiations end with either an agreement
or a protocol describing the differences between the parties. If negotiations fail, a
mandatory mediation process ensues; the mediator is appointed jointly by the disguting
parties or, lacking agreement between them, by tne Minister of Labor and
ocial Policy. If mediation lails, the trade union may launch a warning strike for
a period of up to 2 hours or seek arbitration of the dispute. Both employers and
employees have frequently questioned the impartiality of tne mediators.
A full-fledged stnke may not be launched until 14 days after the Ministry of
Labor and Social Policy has been informed that a dispute exists. Strikes are pronibited
entirely in certain public services, namely the Ofiice of State Protection, units
of the police, firefighters, military forces, prison services, and frontier guards. A
strike may be called by the trade union after approval by the majority of voting
workers and should be announced at least 5 days beforehand. If the stnke is organized
in accordance with the Act, the workers retain a ri^t to social insurance benefits
but not to wages. If a strike is "organized contrary to the provisions of the law,"
the woricers may lose social insurance benefits; organizers are liable for damages
and civU penalties.
The Government anticipated that the Trade Union Act would discourage labor
disputes, but the emphasis on discouraging disputes rather than establishing a process
aimed at resolving them contributed to a worsening of tensions on the shop floor
in 1992. Labor disputes were common throughout 1992; a wave of strikes in several
of Poland's largest industrial enterprises constituted a major challenge to the young
government of Prime Mrniste 1 Hanna Suchocka.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The May 1991 law on trade
unions and collective bargaining provides legal sanctions for antiunion discrimination
and generally creates a more favorable environment for trade union activity by
providing union officials with time ofl" with pay, as well as facilities and technical
equipment in the enterprise. A notable weakness in the law, given Poland's ongoing
economic transition, is the lack of specific provisions to ensure that the union has
continued rights of representation when a state firm changes ownership through
privatization, bankruptcy, or sale. Solidarity is particularly concerned tnat many
joint ventures are ignoring Polish labor law. The Pact on State Enterprises, initialed
"by several of the major trade unions in late 1992, is designed to address this weakness
by codifjdng labor's involvement in the process of enterprise restructuring and
privatization.
The unions, management, and workers' councils set wages in ad hoc negotiations
at the enterprise level. Collective bargaining as such does not exist. Since 1988,
agreements no longer are legally required to be registered with the Government,
and formal sectorwide collective agreements were reached only in the hard coal, soft
coal, and transportation sectors. In the two coal mining sectors, those agreements
were ignored and superseded by agreements reached after enterprise-level strikes
that rippled through those industries in July and August.
Throughout 1992, the Government continued to try indirectly to hold down wages
in state enterprises through a penalty tax ("popiwek") in an effort to link wages to
increases in productivity and reduce inflationary pressures in the state industrial
sector. The tax is levied on any state company that increases its average wage in
excess of a government-set "inflation coefficient." The enforcement of the popiwek
tax on excessive wage growth effectively discouraged enterpriseor sectoral-level collective
bargaining on wages. A law passed in September exempted firms that export
at least 30 percent of their production.
Special duty-free zones exist in or have been contemplated for some 15 locations
throughout Poland but, with the exception of one zone in Poznan, have not so far
attracted much attention. Collective bargaining does not exist in these zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced and compulsory labor are
prohibited by law and do not exist.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code forbids the employment
of persons under the age of 15. The employment of persons aged 15 to 18
is permitted only if that person nas completed basic schooling and if the proposed
emplojntnent is a form of apprenticeship or vocational training. The age floor is
raised to 18 if a particular job might entail health hazards. The Government enforces
the legal protection oi minors but is unable to monitor the growing private
sector effectively.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Minimum wagea levels, which the Ministry of
Labor and Social Policy negotiates every 3 months with the trade unions, do not
provide a worker and his family a decent standard of living. The standard legal
workweek is 48 hours, but in practice most Poles work 40 hours a week most of
the year.
The Labor Code defines minimum conditions for the protection of workers' health
and safety; a new draft of that Code, approved by Parliament, took effect in 1992.
Enforcement is a growing problem because an ever-increasing share of Polish economic
activity is in private hands and outside the purview of the State Labor
Inspectorate, whose staff of 800 inspectors are only responsible for monitoring state
firms. In addition, it is not clear which government or legislative body has the re870
sponsibility for enforcing the law in the private sector. Meanwhile, woric conditions
in Poland are poor; standards for exposure to chemicals, dust, and noise are routinely
exceeded. There were about 116,000 serious work-related accidents in 1991,
involving 781 deaths and 4,925 cases of dismemberment, or, in other words, more
accidents but fewer deaths than in 1990.
