A-Infos (en) Poland, ZSP Warsawa* New Blog http://zspwawa.blogspot.com/

New Issue of Zaplata ---- Polish workers in your town? ---- If anybody would like to get a 
few copies of the new issue of our paper, Zaplata, write to us and we can send them out so 
you get them before May Day. ---- info@zsp.net.pl ---- Posted by Akai at 15:51 0 comments 
Labels: Zaplata ---- Saturday, 28 March 2009 ---- Problems at Lionbridge Again ---- 
Workers at Lionbridge are restless again as the company announced that it would be firing 
hundreds of workers and consolidating some offices. Despite attempts to bust the union at 
the Polish office, it is still present in the Warsaw office. Members of ZSP are monitoring 
the situation. ---- We Support Babylon Cinema Workers! ---- On March 11, Benoit Robin, a 
projectionist at Babylon Cinema in Berlin and an activist of FAU, was fired from his job. 
He was in the midst of organizing for improved working conditions in the cinema.

In January a FAU group was organized at the cinema. The workers there have poor wages: 
from 5.5-6 euro per hour, 6.4 euro for projectionists. This is a very poor wage in the 
industry. Many of the workers are precarious and have no contracts. They have no paid 
holiday or other benefits. By comparison, workers in another cinema chain receive 8.5 euro 
per hour plus 30 pays paid vacation.

Currently 27 people work at the cinema.

The cinema cannot be said to be in poor financial condition. As an art cinema, it receives 
a large government subsidy - almost a half million euros per year. Despite this, the 
workers in Babylon Cinema get extremely low wages - even less than in some workplaces 
known for their extremely poor work conditions.

The workers at the cinema organized a protest during the Berlin film festival. A month 
later, Robin was fired. It is believed that he was fired due to this organizing campaign.

Robin was not the only comrade ever fired from Babylon. Last year one comrade was fired 
for no reason but later received compensation for this. He is currently involved in the 
protests and organizing campaign.

The workers of the cinema have a blog: http://prekba.blogsport.de

There is also an online petition you can sign: 
http://prekba.blogsport.de/solidaritaets-erklaerung

There is a video here (in German) with a machine translation of an article about the 
situation, but you can get the sense.

http://freundeskreis-videoclips.de/en/arbeitskampf-kino-babylon-berlin-mitte/

FAU was asking people to send letters to the cinema:

Neue Babylon Berlin GmbH
tgrossman@kinoundkonzerte.de
hackel@babylonberlin.de
Tel.: 0049 (0)30-24 727 804
Fax: 0049 (0)30-24 727 800

Re.: Dismissal of Benoit Robin

It has come to my attention that staff at the Babylon Cinema and the FAU-IWA, which has a 
presence there, have been opposing the precarious working conditions at the cinema.

I was sorry to learn that projectionist and union member Benoit Robin was fired just 
before he would have become entitled to job protection. This message is a strong protest 
against that unfair labour practice. Beyond the issue immediately at hand, I urge you to 
desist from interfering with organizing in your shop.

Best Regards

Copy of your letter to : faub5@fau.org
Posted by Akai at 18:36 0 comments
Labels: Babylon. FAU
Free Praga

Members of ZSP Warsaw took over the editorship of the free neighbourhood paper "Free 
Praga". The paper is meant for residents of Warsaw's Praga district and usually contains 
information on local political events, corruption, social problems of the neighbourhood, 
cultural and political events plus advice.

This issue of the paper is devoted to the question of gentrification and explains the 
expected effects of government sponsored "revitalization" programs. There is information 
on tenants protests, on the situation of tenants in a reprivatized house and on new rent 
increases and what kinds of discounts and subsidies you may get. Besides this, this is 
information on new high-end housing projects to be built in the neighbourhood and about 
tenants and neighbourhood associations in Warsaw and in the ocmmunity. Other subjects 
include information on how the Polish state cooperates with Vietnamese secret services to 
deport people, about Komuna Otwock theatre which holds some interesting political 
discussions and about consultation on Labour Law in the Infoshop.

For Polish readers, a copy of this issue of Wolna Praga (Free Praga) is available on line 
here: http://anarchiwum.bzzz.net/yak/wolna_praga_6.pdf
Posted by Akai at 11:08 0 comments
Labels: Gentrification, Praga
Friday, 20 March 2009
Practical Approach to the Crisis: An Appeal to Share Information and a Presentation of 
Activities of Priama akcia – IWA/AIT Slovakia
In November 2008 Priama akcia started to monitor the effects of the financial crisis on 
Slovakia. We hope our activities will inspire others to do similar things in their 
countries. We started with our first activities in November 2008 and the second phase was 
launched in February 2009. In addition to leaflets, posters and a questionnaire, we have 
also set up an online discussion forum which is unique because of its working class 
perspective, and created an interactive online map which illustrates how many people were 
or are planned to be made redundant since October 2008 (also where and by what firm). We 
have also written or translated articles linked to the crisis and posted them on our 
website (e.g. about temporary agency workers, direct actions, and more).

REQUEST TO THE LIBERTARIAN COMMUNISTS AROUND THE WORLD

We would like to appeal to all the IWA-AIT Sections and Friends to share and spread the 
information about:
* the actions of the workers against the consequences of the crisis
* their activities concerning the crisis
* spheres hit most by the crisis in your country (regionally as well as industrially)

PRIAMA AKCIA’s “We don’t intend to be the ones who will pay for the crisis!” ACTIVITIES

1st phase (November 2008 – January 2009)

In the last couple of months we have seen more and more feverish attempts of state 
governments and international organizations to “solve” the financial crisis. Several quite 
important meetings took place in USA, EU, and on the national level. Bail-out packages, 
stronger regulation, and other measures have been proposed in order to save capitalism.

And what has the anarchist response to the crisis been so far? As for Priama akcia, we 
have come with the aim to use the crisis to build and maintain a network of contacts, 
through which we can exchange information and experiences about the consequences of the 
crisis (such as people being made redundant or workers’ struggles). This network could 
also constitute a basis for future meetings, discussions, and concrete solidarity actions.

In November 2008 Priama akcia prepared:
* Leaflets (an excerpt of the leaflet is translated below), which we spread mostly in 
trains as travelling is also a good opportunity to read.
* Posters, which we place mostly around bus and train stations and plan to use also around 
factories hit by crisis.
* Questionnaire, which is part of the initiative of FAU (German section of IWA/AIT) and 
German Wildcat collective. It is currently placed online at our website (in Slovak). We 
can translate to English on demand. The questions are aimed at understanding the effects 
of the crisis in regions, workplaces, etc.

We have also asked people to post these information wherever possible (websites, forums, 
blogs, profiles, MySpace, hi5, Facebook, etc.).



2nd phase (since February 2009)

The key idea in the second phase is the participation of all the people we could reach. We 
have suggested a number of activities in which they could take part.

At this point, social networks are the most important thing that we have and can actively 
use. Family, friends, acquaintances, people we meet from time to time, people from 
different regions – they can all help or at least pass the information further via their 
social networks. It is vital to spread the information to everyone we know. This way we 
can get information from all over the country and maybe other countries as well.

There are several ways to reach the aims put forward in November 2008 (see above):

1) Contacting people who were made redundant or those threatened to lose their job
The idea is to form and maintain local contacts with these people. There are several means 
to achieve this, mainly spreading the information using social networks. This way we can 
get information about their situation, asking them to fill in our questionnaire, or other 
possibilities listed below.

We also wrote about best ways to approach people who we don’t know very well (how to 
begin, what to ask, how to explain why we are trying to get the information, etc.).

The purpose of collecting and connecting workers experiences is not “theoretical” but 
practical. At the same time we are able to find out how the employers and unions respond 
to the crisis (How do they act towards employers? What do they say to justify job losses? 
Who is being made redundant first? What do they offer? Are they doing anything to prevent 
the consequences of the crisis? What do they tell the workers? How are the workers treated 
and how do they respond to it? etc.).

2) Filling in the questionnaire (initiative of Wildcat and FAU, see above)
Since November we have received several dozens of questionnaires and we are waiting for 
more to come. We have also prepared a text version of the questionnaire, which can be 
printed out and given to people without Internet access, and sent to us by post or e-mail.

3) A map depicting all the areas where people were made redundant
After several weeks of processing the information from mass media about people being made 
redundant in Slovakia we have come up with an online map at 
kriza.priamaakcia.sk/mapaprepustania which is to be updated regularly. More than 15 000 
people (0.57% of around 2.65 mil. working population) have lost their jobs since October 
2008, and this number is expected to grow. People can help us updating the map by sending 
their information. The map is not 100% accurate because the media do not cover all the job 
cuts (e.g. agency/external workers are rarely mentioned) and there are job losses that 
occur without a direct link to the crisis. The map can also be used to promote our 
activities (it can be placed on web-sites, used as a signature on various online forums, 
etc.).

4) An online discussion forum about the crisis
We have created a web forum kriza.priamaakcia.sk, which aims at provoking discussions 
about the situation in the workplaces, situation of those who were made redundant, and 
possibilities to help each other and solve the problems in a way that will benefit the 
workers. Theoretical discussions about the causes of the crisis, deeper political and 
economic context, and the consequences for the workers are also welcome. The forum can 
also serve as an archive of information (articles from mass media, etc.).

5) Spreading the information about our activities via posters, web forums, banners, 
MySpace/Facebook profiles, etc.
It is vital to use as many information channels as possible, mainly alternative media and 
social networks that we have. We have updated the poster (which can be placed in the 
surrounding area of a company that plans or has made some workers redundant or close to 
crowded places, such as bus and train stations, etc.) and are currently working on a new 
leaflet/bulletin. We have also prepared a couple of online banners (promoting the 
questionnaire and the forum). They can be placed on a website, used as a signature, added 
to a MySpace/Facebook profile, etc. The same goes for the map.

6) Asking for help with translations of foreign articles and interviews
There have been strikes and other activities against the consequences of the crisis in the 
world. They represent experiences of workers, and can be an inspiration the current 
situation. There are some valuable articles waiting to be translated, and people can help 
also with that.

7) Instant messaging
Instant messaging is a quick and effective form of communication. Therefore we have 
created not only an e-mail account, but also an ICQ and jabber account and a Facebook profile.



2008 LEAFLET (excerpt)
...
Our main aims in the situation of crisis is creating a network of contacts, which could 
lead to:

• Exchange of information about the consequences of the crisis
• Exchange of experiences from conflicts in workplaces or elsewhere
• Future meetings, discussions and solidarity actions

Certainly this is just one of the possibilities. However, it is vital to start relying on 
ourselves.

Let’s mind our own “business”
No one promised us anything in this crisis. No one will give us a generous compensation if 
we lose our job. We will get only what we fight for. On the other hand, the banks and 
businessmen are being saved by the state.

Some of us will turn to the unions for help, others will rely on the solutions proposed by 
the politicians, yet others just accept grudgingly whatever comes and think that there is 
little we can do about it. However, some might start solving their problems (not only) in 
the workplace together with their colleagues.

Politicians, bosses and bankers mind only their own business. And that is what we should 
be doing as well, minding our own “business”. Our problems will not just disappear, no 
matter how, when or even if the system is saved. They will remain here, provoking our 
discontent and the effort to solve them ourselves.

That is why we have to be informed about each other’s situation, maintain contacts and 
help each other. We hope that this crisis will be a huge incentive to do that. No one else 
will solve the problems according to our needs and interests. Only we ourselves.


English section of Priama akcia website: 
http://www.priamaakcia.sk/index.php?action=view_category&id=200
E-mail: info(at)priamaakcia(dot)sk
Posted by Akai at 20:30 0 comments
Labels: Crisis, Priama Akcia
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
GroenFlex Update
Eurocontract, the firm from Holland which employs people through Groen Flex, say that they 
agree to pay Michalek's hospital bill. But they haven't done it yet. We will check how 
this develops.

ZSP does not drop other demands to Groenflex and Eurocontract and encourage other workers 
to come forward and organize themselves.
Posted by Yak at 17:51 0 comments
Labels: Eurocontract, Groenflex
Monday, 16 March 2009
8th Anniversary of the Warsaw Infoshop
March 15 was the 8th anniversay of the Warsaw Infoshop "Grapes of Wrath" - commonly known 
as just "the Infoshop". The Infoshop birthday party was accompanied by an exhibit by the 
radical womens' art group "Marie Antoinette's Severed Head" on the crisis and social 
uprisings. -- The Infoshop is a collectively run space with an anarchist bookshop, library 
and meeting space. It is used by a number of groups including Union of Syndicalists, 
Praska Anarchist Group, Freedom Equality and Solidarity. Warsaw Vegans, Free Konopi, Praga 
Bicyclists, KFP union, Anarchist Solidarity and occasionally by a local house cooperative. 
The (sporadically updated) Infoshop page, with film announcements, a few book reviews and 
long and short list of publications in the library: www.infoszop.bzzz.net

Address of the Infoshop:
Targowa 22 lokal 27a
03-731 Warsaw
Posted by Akai at 19:42 0 comments
Labels: Infoshop
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Strike Bulletin #8

Issue 8 of the bulletin is out now.
Information about recent campaigns, problems of seasonal workers, effects of the crisis.

To receive a copy, write to:
warsaw@zsp.net.pl

The bulletin is available in PDF or paper form.
Posted by Akai at 14:28 0 comments
Labels: Bulletin
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