Laure Akai

Akai, Laure

Polish anarcho-syndicalist contributing interesting analyses of workers' struggles in the country.

Privatisation by the back door: The health workers’ strike and the future of medical care in Poland

Laure Akai analyses the neoliberal reforms to Poland's health service as the doctors' strike enters its fourth month.

Some hospitals have given up the strike, some hospitals are concluding private deals with doctors. Nurses have organised separately from the doctors with a slightly different agenda. And it well may turn out that the results of the strike are strikingly different salaries for health care workers throughout Poland and increased privatization of the health care industry.

Poland’s health care workers’ strike: new challenges and old problems

As a mass health-care strike enters its sixth week, all that may be achieved is the speeding-up of the privatisation process.

The Doctor’s Strike and the Nurses’ Occupation

Death, industrial action and firings at LG Electronics in Poland

At least one worker fired after industrial action. Workers demand an end to forced overtime.

LG is one of the biggest and most important companies operating in Poland. The group owns a wide variety of investments, most notably its TV and LCD monitor/ screen production in Mlawa and Biskupice Podgórne (near Wroclaw) and its refrigerator and washing machine plant in Kobierzyce.

Poland: Workers fired for union activity

A report from Poland on the firing of two workers for union organising and demanding better working conditions.

Two workers from Workers' Initiative have been fired for union activity. Anybody who would like to show some solidarity should send a nasty e-mail or fax with a protest.The names of the fired people are Aurelia Włodarczyk and Jolanta Szypura. They work for the firm Greenkett Polska, which is part of the IG group - headquarters in Spain. They were demanding a 30% pay raise.

Teachers protest in Warsaw

Over 12,000 teachers demonstrated today in Warsaw. Among their demands were not only calls for a pay rise and retention of early retirement priveleges, but also for he dismissal of the Minister and Vice-Minister of Education.

Today over 12,000 teachers from around Poland came to Warsaw to protest the policies of the government, both in regard to its financial committment towards education workers and to the outrageous actions of the Minister and Vice-minister of Education.

Halemba mine tragedy: the high costs of greed and outsourcing

No worker should not have gone into the mine that day. But Halemba sent in some unqualified contractors. Laure Akai reports.

Previous libcom.org coverage here.

Poland postal strike: new developments

An update on the postal workers strike in Poland. As it has spread bosses have offered a pay increase, but way below workers' demands.

As of now, mail carriers in many cities have joined the strike, but not all of them. Most post offices are working and accepting mail, even if they are not delivering. The exceptions are in Warsaw in the Praga District where the 2nd PO in the city was shut down and in Szczecin where 23 POs have closed during the strike.

Poland: Postal workers strike

Mail carriers across Poland are strike for better pay and working conditions. Polish anarchists report on the stoppage and actions they have taken to support it.

On Nov. 13, a wildcat strike of mail carriers started in the Gdansk post office. Now the strike has been taken over by different unions, mostly Solidarity, and has spread to most major cities in Poland.

The mail carriers' demands include:
- an 8 hour work day for all workers of the Polish Post (most mail carriers work 10-12 hours daily)