Further to my recent post on the BNP union, Solidarity, and Skuds’ comment, I was interested to find this old news release (“Solidarity’s right wing friends“) from South African union federation COSATU, concerning South Africa’s own Solidarity union, and accusations that they are trying to maintain old “whites-only” job policies.
I’d thought the BNP union was a bit of a slur on the Polish Solidarity (Solidarnosc) pinching both their name and their logo (Odd given that the party aren’t that keen on Polish workers coming here, just their union!) . Maybe though they’ve found another Solidarity to draw inspiration from.
I visited Solidarnosc in Gdansk last year, and was rather taken by a display in Gdansk’s Lech Walesa Airport (the only union GS I know of with his own airport!). It has a picture of newsreel footage on the faces of dominoes, with 25 years of oppressive regimes around the world tumbling in the face of people power, and the very neat slogan: “Today was born in Gdansk”. Inspiring stuff, and a very long way from anything their ignoble new namesakes are likely to achieve.
Many people in Poland are concerned at the fact that so many are leaving to work abroad. Poland does not have surplus population (as was the case in the West Indies in the 50s). Surely you can understand that the fact that France and Germany imposed restrictions and the UK did not distorted the market impact on the UK economy and has placed us in a position where labour rates in certain industries are kept artificially static? Surely it is the job of UK Unions to speak out on issues like this which impact on ordinary workers?
There is a wider issue still when we consider how parasitic our Health Service is on developing nations. Take a look at the stats for South Africa and the impact of developing nations buying-up their skilled professionals. I don’t expect you to say we are 100% real but at least accept that your simplistic presentation is off the mark.
Agreed that it is having an effect in Poland, Patrick. There’s a shortage of plumbers for example, and they’re instead hiring lots of Ukrainians to fill the roles. Much of this is temporary as younger people come here to learn and earn (and pay tax) whilst they have the opportunity, and there’s indeed evidence that some are returning already.
The labour market isn’t always a zero sum, and Eastern European migrants are tending to go for areas where there is a labour shortage rather than surplus – they can’t afford to stay if they aren’t getting enough work. Problems of undercutting and lowering of conditions are not caused by the migrants themselves, but by bad bosses who are looking to exploit their situation, and in some cases break the law.
Unions *are* speaking out on these issues, by insisting on solidarity with migrants in cases where this is happening. Insist on the same standards for everyone, and you can stop exploitation of a minority causing detriment to all.