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When did I stop doing overtime?

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When my children started to call me "grandma".

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You go home, you do something with your child

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and it says to you: "Grandma... I mean... mom!".

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I say: "Son, it's alright".

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He: "I'm sorry". I say: "Nothing happened, right? Did you forget?"

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"Yes", he says, "I forgot, because grandma is always with us. You are not here".

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I ask: "But do you know why I'm gone?"

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"I know, you have to work, everyone works. When I get old I will also work."

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You commute to work every day and come back so late,

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you don't have time for your family.

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You get paid 300 euros.

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What can you do with that? What can you buy with that?

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That's why I can barely get up in the mornings to go to work.

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Lech Walesa wants us to celebrate the anniversary of the August 1980 demands

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as a national holiday.

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But what's left of those demands?

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For him it's just another occasion to drink cognac and smoke cigars with his buddies.

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And the masses? They are supposed to work and sweat.

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What they said at different workplaces,

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we've also heard from our leader.

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I remember it exactly, she said in front of everyone:

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"If you don't like it here, get the fuck out."

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Special Exploitation Zones

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At the end of the 1980s, the process of transition to a market economy began in Poland.

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The issues of debt accumulated by the People's Republic of Poland

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and that of finding new credit in order to finance structural reforms

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played an important role in the transition process.

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Western governments, banks and international corporations

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imposed a series of terms, including the elimination of large work units,

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especially in heavy industry.

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"The most significant question is,

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whether Poles will agree to reduce their standards of living

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to ensure the stability of the country."

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Their aim was to limit the competition of Polish state enterprises on Western markets

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and to eliminate the arms industry in countries of the dissolving Eastern block.

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At stake in this game was also the opening access

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to local markets for Western investors.

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Under these conditions a program of market reforms was set up, called "shock therapy",

40
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that lead to the failure, elimination or privatization

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of state industries and agriculture.

42
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I have lists of people who are going to be sacked.

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It's more than 600-650 people.

44
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In the last year, colleagues were fired.

45
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They lost their benefits. How can they survive?

46
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- I believe, that was done deliberately.

47
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- But that's conspiracy theory!

48
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It's not conspiracy theory.

49
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How can one declare the failure of a company

50
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that made 100 billion zlotys for the state last year?

51
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The collapse of this company is going to cost the ministry of Mr. Miller

52
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about 40 billion zlotys.

53
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- But it's not just Diora! The entire electronic industry is failing!

54
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So that must be a strategic mistake of the government.

55
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It is not just us who went bankrupt!

56
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Please go and ask around Poland, what's going on, why is this all happening?

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The "shock therapy" increased unemployment and poverty.

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From 1989 to 2011 the number of workplaces decreased by almost 6 million.

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We used to have an industrial zone in our town of Nowa Ruda:

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the Diora factory, a coal mine, a big textile factory.

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At that time, if you finished at 10 p.m. it was difficult to get through the streets.

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So many people from this region worked here.

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In the 1990s, after the political system shifted,

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a massive privatization took place, and the industries were closed down.

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The Diora radio plant was the first to go.

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The year of 1997 was a difficult for us, as Zbyszek didn't work in the mine any longer.

67
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So I started looking for work.

68
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It was very difficult then.

69
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If you found work it felt like winning the lottery.

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Friends of mine offered me a job in their store.

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As I had no other options I agreed,

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although the wage was very low: 82 euros a month.

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You could call that exploitation: I worked 8 hours, full-time,

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but only had a part-time contract, for a 4-hour job.

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10 years later I had had enough. I was tired of it and, eventually, quit.

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I looked for work and found jobs,

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in the Chung Hong factory in the zone, and in a corner store.

78
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I no longer wanted to work in sales,

79
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especially since it was again only part-time work, so I went to work for Chung Hong.

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I worked in the Diora plant, and I got my children, altogether 4.

81
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The factory was closed down long ago.

82
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I went to work for a short time, in a bar.

83
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Unfortunately it was work under the table.

84
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Then I found a job in the Czech Republic.

85
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I got hired there, but the wage was poor, and they paid a piece-rate.

86
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The work involved retrieving buttons and zips from old clothes.

87
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I had to fill bags, so that each bag would weigh 20 kilo.

88
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It depended on the kind of textile: I had to do 23 bags if it was cotton,

89
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and 13 bags if it was shirts.

90
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It was really difficult.

91
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The highest wage I got was 150 euros.

92
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With that I also had to pay for commuting to the Czech Republic.

93
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I had no choice but to quit.

94
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Then I got the job in the zone.

95
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I worked in a kitchen.

96
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Later it got difficult finding a job, so I accepted a cleaning job.

97
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I worked for only a year.

98
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Later I got pregnant with my son.

99
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When the maternity leave was over, my contract was not prolonged.

100
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That way I ended up at Chung Hong.

101
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I'm 33 years old, but I have always been working only very short periods:

102
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for 3 months, 5 months.

103
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Later, I was was doing work training through the employment office,

104
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but only for half a year.

105
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Then I had a short contract to replace a colleague.

106
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So I did only short-time work.

107
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I was also at home a lot,

108
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as I gave birth to my daughter and brought her up myself

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because it was not possible to find her a kindergarten.

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There are no day nurseries in the region.

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So I had to stay home.

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High unemployment, repressive social policies and uncertain forms of employment

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forced masses of people to accept work with the worst conditions or to emigrate.

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Using market reforms successive governments began changing the state and social sphere,

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i.e. they reformed the health services, the retirement system and the eduction system.

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Neoliberal reforms transferred management concepts based on markets and private companies

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to the management of state and society.

118
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This lead to restrictions of civil rights and social benefits

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as well as the elimination of preschools, schools or hospitals,

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that benefit everyone and are necessary in everyday life.

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The costs of maintaining collective goods

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and the responsibility for care and reproduction

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rested on individual households and the shoulders of women.

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These changes especially deteriorated the situation of women

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from low and middle income households.

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In 1994, the parliament enacted a law on Special Economic Zones (SEZ)

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which were supposed to be an answer to the crisis in industry and in the job market.

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The SEZ are specific areas where investors

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are exempt from paying income tax and receive other public support.

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The companies that manage the SEZs also benefit from tax exemptions.

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The first SEZs were opened in the second half of the 1990s,

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on the ruins of old enterprises.

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In the following years, inside the SEZs assembly factories or business centers were opened

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which were integrated into global production networks.

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Our proposal is to prolong the existence of the SEZs

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and to found an attractive investment area in every municipality.

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Currently there are 14 SEZs in Poland

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and hundreds of subzones, established upon the wishes of investors.

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The subzone Kobierzyce [Southwest Poland], where the Chung Hong factory is located,

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is a subzone of the SEZ Tarnobrzeg [Southeast Poland].

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The SEZ Tarnobrzeg was established

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while the mines and sulfur processing plants in Tarnobrzeg were closed,

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leading to a significant increase of unemployment and to social protests in the region.

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The SEZ "Euro-Park Wislosan" in Tarnobrzeg offers investors the best location.

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We also offer the lowest costs.

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In all its subzones, especially in Tarnobrzeg and Nowa Deba,

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investors will be welcome supported by the local authorities.

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The SEZS are organized by the "Industrial Development Agency"

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which belongs to the State Treasury and makes profits by managing public wealth.

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The SEZs have their own sector of services and a political lobby

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made up of the companies that manage the SEZs,

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temporary work agencies, companies offering intermediation in negotiations with the authorities,

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legal consulting, managerial services, promotion and political marketing.

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One of them is JP Weber, a Wroclaw based law firm

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which specializes in complex legal consulting, including suppressing worker's protests.

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The European center of television and monitor production for the LG corporation

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is located in the subzone Kobierzyce near Wroclaw.

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9 factories have been built inside the SEZ so far,

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the majority of which produce for LG.

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Opening factories in the SEZ allowed the company

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to reduce custom's duties, transport costs and supplies.

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75% of LG's production in Poland is based on components

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produced by suppliers from Korea and China.

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Like other companies, LG does not pay taxes on its income in the SEZ,

165
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thus it does not contribute to maintain social resources or infrastructure

166
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which it uses.

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With its low salaries and the temporary employment

168
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LG does not improve the living conditions in the region either.

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I got hired in the (Chung Hong-)factory through a friend.

170
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Before that, I did an internship in a factory producing stuffed cabbage.

171
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Catering is my profession, but they really exploited the people there.

172
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So I decided to look for another job

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and started working at Chung Hong.

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When I work the afternoon shift, I live at my father's house.

175
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From there a company bus takes me to the factory.

176
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When I work the morning shift I live with my husband in a different town.

177
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He gives me a lift as he works in the mornings, too.

178
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He drops me off at the company bus stop.

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So I keep going from one home to the other.

180
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I have no time for myself. That's tiresome.

181
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I always get up at 3:40 a.m.

182
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Now it's winter time, so you go to work and it's dark,

183
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you go home – and it's dark.

184
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Days are short.

185
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You take a quick bath, eat supper, and go to bed.

186
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The next day you have to get up in the morning again.

187
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One has no time even for the kids.

188
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I work, my husband works,

189
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so our child is with my mother-in-law all the time.

190
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It goes to a kindergarten.

191
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I have no time, even for my own kid.

192
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It's like that every day.

193
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My child is growing fast, and I don't even know,

194
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because it's always nothing but work-home, work-home, work-home.

195
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I'm a guest in my own house.

196
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When I left the house once to go to work I had to trick my son.

197
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I made him believe that I was going to the shop to buy him a chocolate egg.

198
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He collects the figures inside.

199
00:15:39,034 --> 00:15:41,800
I was leaving for the night shift and told him:

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"Son, I will be back, I'm just going to the shop to get a chocolate egg for you."

201
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"You know, mummy, I don't want that egg."

202
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"Why?" - "Because when you go to get it you are gone for so long!"

203
00:16:13,917 --> 00:16:17,500
When we got employed in this company it was a decent workplace.

204
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The conditions were satisfying, and people wanted to work here.

205
00:16:23,790 --> 00:16:26,433
They envied us in other factories,

206
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seeing we had full social benefits and well-paid overtime.

207
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After some time, the new managers introduced cuts.

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- Dramatic cuts.

209
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I began working at Chung Hong with a gross wage of 300 euros.

210
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My first paycheck was 375 euros.

211
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With bonuses and paid overtime I made up to 450 euros.

212
00:17:02,872 --> 00:17:05,367
Now it's the other way around:

213
00:17:05,567 --> 00:17:11,182
My gross wage is 450 euros, but I get 310 euros in cash.

214
00:17:12,179 --> 00:17:14,533
I'm the only breadwinner in my family.

215
00:17:14,733 --> 00:17:18,734
My wife is a teacher, and she can't find any job in the region.

216
00:17:18,934 --> 00:17:22,333
Schools are being closed down, and there are very few kindergartens.

217
00:17:22,533 --> 00:17:24,800
It is very difficult to find a job.

218
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:32,734
My net wage is around 375 euros, not enough to maintain a family.

219
00:17:32,934 --> 00:17:39,667
I had to take out a mortgage to live with my family.

220
00:17:39,867 --> 00:17:44,767
I bought a 26 sqm single-room flat where I live with my wife and my child.

221
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The monthly installment is 125 euros, and another 125 euros go to pay my bills.

222
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I'm left with another 125 euros.

223
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All my money goes to pay for food and bills. There's no chance to save anything.

224
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If I were to save up something, I think I'd have to stop eating.

225
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It's impossible.

226
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80 or 90 percent of people working in the SEZ can't afford to have a child.

227
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A child involves many costs: bringing it up, education, diapers, food...

228
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Our example: we rent a flat and we have just enough money to pay our bills for the two of us.

229
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Sometimes we have to borrow. If we had a baby...

230
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- ...we'd have to go abroad.

231
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We wouldn't manage without the help of our parents.

232
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I have to work overtime to make ends meet.

233
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At the end, I spend 16 hours at work, then 3 hours at home,

234
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and then I have to leave to take the bus to work again.

235
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So 16 hours, plus 2 hours commute, you are gone for 18 hours.

236
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It was not pleasant when my children started calling me "grandma".

237
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I decided that the shitty money I earn is not worth it.

238
00:19:31,834 --> 00:19:42,100
It is not worth it having such an impact on my children's psyche.

239
00:19:42,300 --> 00:19:47,420
So I stopped doing overtime.

240
00:19:52,775 --> 00:19:55,500
All this commuting, the exhaustion...

241
00:19:55,700 --> 00:20:01,700
...if it meant getting good money we would feel motivated to work.

242
00:20:01,900 --> 00:20:03,700
Unfortunately [it is not like that].

243
00:20:04,300 --> 00:20:07,000
Now we are not allowed to do 16 hours overtime,

244
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,934
but we used to.

245
00:20:10,134 --> 00:20:12,100
Women would have nose bleeding,

246
00:20:12,300 --> 00:20:18,166
and they would just put tampons up their noses and keep working.

247
00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:23,166
At one meeting, our manager said: "The employer will make up for all this."

248
00:20:23,366 --> 00:20:27,000
But he didn't. He didn't even say "Happy Easter".

249
00:20:29,329 --> 00:20:33,500
It was Easter, when the boss came to ask the workers

250
00:20:33,700 --> 00:20:40,100
to work over the holidays because of some critical situation in the company.

251
00:20:40,300 --> 00:20:44,734
He said he will make up for this, that it's going to be better, etc.

252
00:20:44,934 --> 00:20:49,001
So we all kept working during the holidays, 16 hours.

253
00:20:49,201 --> 00:20:56,433
We really hoped that the boss would make up for it.

254
00:20:56,633 --> 00:21:03,100
After the holidays, the 200% bonus for weekend work was eliminated,

255
00:21:03,300 --> 00:21:09,667
social benefits were taken away as well as the service premium.

256
00:21:09,867 --> 00:21:13,100
So we got only the basic wage, nothing more.

257
00:21:13,300 --> 00:21:17,300
That was the boss's compensation for our 16-hour-work during the holidays.

258
00:21:24,156 --> 00:21:27,000
I remember that one year the boss came to meet the workers before the shift started,

259
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,400
and he asked us if we could start earlier.

260
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,300
He wanted us to work for 16 hours

261
00:21:34,500 --> 00:21:39,166
because the company was late with orders and had to pay fines.

262
00:21:39,300 --> 00:21:41,834
The workers agreed.

263
00:21:42,034 --> 00:21:45,000
I think it was Thursday or Friday

264
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,166
when the boss came with one of the team-leaders to see me at the production line,

265
00:21:48,366 --> 00:21:51,567
asking me to come in for 16 hours the following Saturday,

266
00:21:51,767 --> 00:21:55,667
as they had another urgent order. I agreed.

267
00:21:55,867 --> 00:21:59,667
After the afternoon shift I came in for the morning shift.

268
00:21:59,867 --> 00:22:04,000
I was at home at 1 a.m. and got up at 3:30 a.m. in order to be in the factory in time.

269
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,433
I worked from 7 a.m. am till 11 p.m.

270
00:22:07,633 --> 00:22:10,633
When I left, I tried to catch the factory bus.

271
00:22:10,833 --> 00:22:13,200
I asked the driver: "Is it going to Nowa Ruda?"

272
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,900
He told me: "No, you don't know about it?"

273
00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:18,200
"What should I know?"

274
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,200
"Transport is on hold until 1 a.m."

275
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,934
So I stayed in the zone until 1 a.m. I was at 3 a.m. at home and went to bed.

276
00:22:27,134 --> 00:22:33,400
I got up, ate and I left to go to the factory for the next 16 hours.

277
00:22:40,722 --> 00:22:44,200
Work in the SEZs is organized in such a manner

278
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,266
that workers have to adjust their entire lives to it.

279
00:22:48,466 --> 00:22:54,934
Long drives to the factory and overtime work make it impossible to get a proper rest.

280
00:22:55,134 --> 00:22:57,900
Constant exhaustion becomes part of everyday life.

281
00:22:58,100 --> 00:22:59,200
This becomes all the more dangerous

282
00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:03,467
as profit-seeking employers break health and safety regulations.

283
00:23:03,667 --> 00:23:07,333
They also conduct experiments with new technologies and machines

284
00:23:07,533 --> 00:23:10,200
without informing employees.

285
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:15,066
In past years, there have been serious accidents at LG plants due to employers' negligence.

286
00:23:15,266 --> 00:23:20,467
Workers suffered serious injuries, and two died at work.

287
00:23:33,930 --> 00:23:37,467
There was an accident.

288
00:23:37,667 --> 00:23:41,930
It was rainy, and the bus fell over.

289
00:23:42,130 --> 00:23:51,567
My colleague, Ania, fell on my hand, fortunately not on my head.

290
00:23:51,767 --> 00:23:57,200
The injured were taken to the hospital,

291
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,300
the rest of us went back to the factory.

292
00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:08,367
We waited for the bus in the rain, 1,5 or 2 hours.

293
00:24:08,567 --> 00:24:12,000
We were all wet.

294
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:18,700
When we arrived in the factory we were given only a bucket of water

295
00:24:18,900 --> 00:24:22,900
to clean our shoes from the mud.

296
00:24:23,100 --> 00:24:28,100
No one came to us, neither management nor the team-leader.

297
00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:30,767
No one asked how we felt.

298
00:24:35,530 --> 00:24:41,000
It is not normal to treat people this way and bully them.

299
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,300
They put preassure on you.

300
00:24:46,701 --> 00:24:50,934
Once an older woman from the DFT department needed to go to the toilet.

301
00:24:51,134 --> 00:24:58,033
She had her period, she asked her leader to replace her.

302
00:24:58,233 --> 00:25:03,700
She just wanted to leave the hall as you can't hold it when you have period.

303
00:25:03,900 --> 00:25:07,200
But the leader refused and told her

304
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,600
that she had to bear it as he had no time.

305
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:17,999
The woman had blood all over her trousers.

306
00:25:18,199 --> 00:25:21,700
She left the line and ran to the toilet.

307
00:25:21,900 --> 00:25:24,200
At least we had long aprons.

308
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,700
In the bathroom, she took off her trousers,

309
00:25:27,900 --> 00:25:34,867
washed them in the sink and dried them under the drier.

310
00:25:35,067 --> 00:25:42,969
The next day she brought a nappy as she knew that no one would replace her.

311
00:25:47,409 --> 00:25:50,066
Most of the workers in the Chung Hong factory are women

312
00:25:50,266 --> 00:25:54,500
hired on temporary work contracts or through a temporary work agency.

313
00:25:54,700 --> 00:26:01,633
In Poland, 27% of workers are employed on temporary contracts, the largest percentage in Europe.

314
00:26:04,500 --> 00:26:08,000
At the beginning my daughter got up for school alone.

315
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,266
I was working the morning shift and once took my phone and walked out of the hall

316
00:26:12,466 --> 00:26:14,800
to call her and to wake her up.

317
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,567
I remember how the leader scolded me: "where did you go? What were you doing?"

318
00:26:19,767 --> 00:26:22,266
I told him, that I had to wake up my kid.

319
00:26:22,466 --> 00:26:26,467
For him it was not appropriate to leave:

320
00:26:26,567 --> 00:26:30,233
"How can you leave the hall?"

321
00:26:30,667 --> 00:26:33,934
But, really, women had to leave their children alone,

322
00:26:34,134 --> 00:26:40,644
and there was no other way to wake them up.

323
00:26:45,445 --> 00:26:48,633
These conditions make it impossible for workers

324
00:26:48,833 --> 00:26:52,266
to fulfill their basic needs in life.

325
00:26:52,466 --> 00:26:55,466
Examples from many plants show that workers' attempts to organize

326
00:26:55,666 --> 00:26:58,033
led to repression from the side of the managers.

327
00:26:58,233 --> 00:27:01,400
Temporary employment and the reduction of the labor costs

328
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,000
raise the companies' profits.

329
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,800
Capital and the neoliberal state have recreated a market model

330
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,767
in which workers are exploited to their biological limits.

331
00:27:19,723 --> 00:27:22,266
There is a high turnover in the factory.

332
00:27:22,466 --> 00:27:32,667
I have worked here for 5 years, and after 2 years I saw only new faces.

333
00:27:32,867 --> 00:27:34,767
It wasn't possible to become friends with anyone,

334
00:27:34,967 --> 00:27:38,033
because other workers would not work there anymore after 2 weeks.

335
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:43,200
Sometimes, temporary workers make up half of the labor force.

336
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:48,266
If no one agrees to do voluntary overtime,

337
00:27:48,466 --> 00:27:53,133
although the employer demands it, he blackmails temporary workers.

338
00:27:53,333 --> 00:27:58,500
He tells them: "You have a [limited] junk contract for one week or one month,

339
00:27:58,700 --> 00:28:03,000
and if you don't do overtime then we'll say 'thank you' and you'll be out of work!"

340
00:28:04,034 --> 00:28:06,734
Total exploitation....

341
00:28:06,934 --> 00:28:08,700
- ...Agencies exploit..

342
00:28:08,900 --> 00:28:11,999
I have already worked there for some years and I noticed,

343
00:28:12,199 --> 00:28:16,800
that when there is huge demand they employ a lot of people with short-term contracts.

344
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,734
Those People have no rights and no benefits.

345
00:28:21,834 --> 00:28:27,266
They do great work, the company fulfills the orders,

346
00:28:27,466 --> 00:28:31,667
and then production slows down and those people are sacked.

347
00:28:31,867 --> 00:28:34,667
They don't have to pay them any compensation or anything.

348
00:28:34,867 --> 00:28:37,166
Some people agree to this, being in a difficult situations.

349
00:28:37,366 --> 00:28:41,166
I know a women who works on a [limited] "junk contract":

350
00:28:41,333 --> 00:28:48,433
She was fired 5 times and she came back 5 times because she has no other way to make a living.

351
00:28:48,633 --> 00:28:54,404
What's more, her husband is sick, so she has no other option.

352
00:29:19,565 --> 00:29:26,500
3 years ago, during the crisis in the car industry, we worked for a subcontractor.

353
00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:31,633
We were all sacked by Czech Skoda.

354
00:29:31,833 --> 00:29:35,167
Then I got job in the SEZ,

355
00:29:35,367 --> 00:29:42,500
at the Chung Hong factory which cooperates with LG.

356
00:29:42,700 --> 00:29:46,500
When I started working there, 2 or 3 operators stood at one production line.

357
00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:52,500
Now 1 person is supposed to be enough. How is that possible?

358
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,567
The management at Chung Hong changed and began

359
00:29:56,767 --> 00:29:58,999
to put pressure on workers.

360
00:29:59,199 --> 00:30:03,400
For example, one Chinese was standing beside me on the production line, every day for 8 hours.

361
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,734
When I started at 7 a.m. he was already waiting.

362
00:30:06,934 --> 00:30:10,200
When I finished, he was looking at the clock.

363
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:16,000
Once it we had to work with timekeepers who checked

364
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:22,100
how long it takes to get a component, to glue it...

365
00:30:22,300 --> 00:30:28,999
They calculated in seconds how much you had to do.

366
00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:33,800
If someone has enough of all this, the exploitation, the threats, just goes on sick leave.

367
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,133
They go to the doctor and pretend to be sick.

368
00:30:37,233 --> 00:30:41,233
Or they don't pretend but ask for a sick leave,

369
00:30:41,433 --> 00:30:45,000
because they just can't bear the situation at work anymore.

370
00:30:46,967 --> 00:30:50,700
Once the employer told us to come to work on a holiday.

371
00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:55,333
Of course, a lot of people didn't like it, maybe even the majority.

372
00:30:55,533 --> 00:31:00,600
A protest letter was written, demanding a free day.

373
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,200
It was a national holiday but the employer didn't care.

374
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,900
He just demanded that we come to work that day.

375
00:31:09,100 --> 00:31:18,066
The list of people who didn't want to work that day was just ignored.

376
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,834
All regulations are made for the employer

377
00:31:24,034 --> 00:31:31,179
while we, the workers, are condemned to misery.

378
00:31:31,782 --> 00:31:34,534
Since we couldn't reach an agreement,

379
00:31:34,734 --> 00:31:38,600
and because Poles couldn't communicate with the Chinese,

380
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,000
we organized a union.

381
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:47,667
We thought that we could maybe improve the situation by using the law,

382
00:31:47,867 --> 00:31:55,633
because between them and us there was no exchange. They didn't want to listen to us.

383
00:31:55,833 --> 00:32:01,800
There was only one way: You had to do something, it doesn't matter how.

384
00:32:08,887 --> 00:32:12,800
Beyond the trade union it is very difficult for us to organize,

385
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:18,167
as we commute from different towns which are often many kilometers apart.

386
00:32:18,367 --> 00:32:22,300
It is also difficult to organize at the workplace

387
00:32:22,500 --> 00:32:29,467
because of the employer forbids us to be in contact with each other during work.

388
00:32:29,667 --> 00:32:33,433
Our break lasts 20 minutes, and this is just enough

389
00:32:33,633 --> 00:32:37,667
to eat something or to smoke a cigarette.

390
00:32:37,867 --> 00:32:41,900
The worktime is set by the employer

391
00:32:42,100 --> 00:32:45,066
so that there is no way to keep in touch.

392
00:32:45,266 --> 00:32:47,500
It is not accepted to stay in contact.

393
00:32:47,700 --> 00:32:54,000
One can be called into the office and be scolded for speaking with others and not fulfilling duties.

394
00:32:54,500 --> 00:32:56,999
The trade union was founded to improve the situation.

395
00:32:57,199 --> 00:32:59,800
The situation was dramatic.

396
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,700
The union asked for a wage increase as we hadn't gotten any for 3 years.

397
00:33:04,900 --> 00:33:11,033
The union wanted to restore the social fund that had been abolished.

398
00:33:11,233 --> 00:33:15,800
The company didn't want to make any concessions.

399
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:22,534
It was informed that if that did not change we would call for a strike.

400
00:33:22,734 --> 00:33:28,100
There was a referendum but the employer tried to prevent it.

401
00:33:28,300 --> 00:33:36,634
We had to hold the referendum outside the factory hall, in the company buses.

402
00:33:36,834 --> 00:33:40,000
The referendum was successful, though, and it was valid.

403
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:45,767
Later they fired our unionist.

404
00:33:45,967 --> 00:33:50,033
I think they did it because they were afraid.

405
00:33:51,433 --> 00:33:54,400
We then went on strike.

406
00:33:54,999 --> 00:33:57,767
- I had mixed feelings concerning the strike,

407
00:33:57,967 --> 00:34:01,500
because sometimes I wanted it, and sometimes I didn't.

408
00:34:01,700 --> 00:34:06,533
But there were a few situations at the workplace,

409
00:34:06,733 --> 00:34:10,633
that made me join the strike.

410
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:17,200
The employer had entered the company bus

411
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:22,000
and kicked out a worker.

412
00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:25,000
There was also a picket-line.

413
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:30,000
The employer locked us in the buses and demanded

414
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:35,467
that we only get off after entering the factory gate.

415
00:34:35,667 --> 00:34:40,800
We had to go to the canteen and could only leave it later for smoking a cigarette.

416
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,266
How could he decide what we should do?

417
00:34:44,466 --> 00:34:48,900
They didn't want us to leave the bus, and that made me join the strike.

418
00:34:49,100 --> 00:34:54,984
I said: This is enough. This is not the way it should be!

419
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,500
/Down with exploitation/

420
00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:03,333
/Chung Hong exploits/

421
00:35:04,531 --> 00:35:08,531
Our employer sent his representatives to our bus.

422
00:35:08,731 --> 00:35:13,433
They were sent to calm down people, so that they do not protest with us.

423
00:35:14,533 --> 00:35:17,333
The strike began in summer 2012.

424
00:35:17,533 --> 00:35:21,066
The participants demanded, among other things, the return to work of Krzysztof Gazda,

425
00:35:21,266 --> 00:35:25,700
who had been illegally fired for union activity.

426
00:35:25,900 --> 00:35:28,933
At the time, Krzysztof Gazda had been active in the collective dispute for months,

427
00:35:29,133 --> 00:35:32,600
and he was fired in an attempt to weaken the trade union,

428
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:38,736
to interrupt the course of the dispute, and to prevent the pre-strike referendum.

429
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,200
We will not let them threaten us.

430
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,967
Together we are stronger than the employer. Remember that!

431
00:35:55,700 --> 00:35:59,834
I walked from one person to the next, not knowing who would join.

432
00:36:00,034 --> 00:36:06,934
Everyone told me they would also join if more people took part.

433
00:36:07,134 --> 00:36:10,834
Everyone said the same but in the end I was alone.

434
00:36:11,034 --> 00:36:14,500
The managers and the boss stood behind me and stared at me.

435
00:36:14,700 --> 00:36:16,900
[The management is lying]

436
00:36:17,100 --> 00:36:22,066
No wonder that only the courageous went with me while those afraid stayed.

437
00:36:22,266 --> 00:36:26,200
It is clear, when the boss stands behind me

438
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,066
the workers listen to him not to another worker, otherwise they lose their job.

439
00:36:30,266 --> 00:36:32,500
That was the beginning.

440
00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:35,767
A small group started to gather, then got a little bigger.

441
00:36:35,967 --> 00:36:39,200
Well, at the end we left the production hall.

442
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:44,467
They threatened us: If we didn't return we would be fired.

443
00:36:44,667 --> 00:36:48,734
Later the called us into the office.

444
00:36:48,934 --> 00:36:51,999
We refused, telling them if they wanted to talk to us

445
00:36:52,199 --> 00:36:55,800
they would have to come to us and talk to everyone, not individuals.

446
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,133
/Do not tighten your belt but clench your fist/

447
00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:18,133
We could stay on the factory premises but only in front of the building.

448
00:37:18,333 --> 00:37:25,767
We couldn't go into the hall, couldn't use sanitary facilities, couldn't get drinking water.

449
00:37:25,967 --> 00:37:30,233
After a week that changed.

450
00:37:31,433 --> 00:37:34,333
It was outrageous.

451
00:37:34,533 --> 00:37:39,767
We had to pee in front of the factory.

452
00:37:39,967 --> 00:37:48,600
Bystanders, people we didn't know, brought us water to drink.

453
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,433
Is was so absurd,

454
00:37:51,633 --> 00:37:58,000
given that our country is quite civilized and in the European Union.

455
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:03,934
The situation was so unpleasant for us, it's hard to talk about it.

456
00:38:05,265 --> 00:38:08,834
They treated us worse than animals,

457
00:38:09,034 --> 00:38:13,433
because people give animals water, right?

458
00:38:13,633 --> 00:38:18,500
During the strike we had to have access to water.

459
00:38:18,700 --> 00:38:25,000
It was 34 degrees Celsius hot, a nightmare, no water, no toilet.

460
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:33,000
The guards would continuously walk after you, as if you were up to something.

461
00:38:38,503 --> 00:38:44,800
In this case, LG as the business partner should have taken a stand.

462
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:51,500
But LG didn't. What LG did made us very sad:

463
00:38:51,700 --> 00:38:56,500
During the strike LG was insolent enough

464
00:38:56,700 --> 00:39:03,800
to send their own workers to the [Chung Hong-]factory.

465
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:11,667
So LG operators worked on the production lines when we were missing.

466
00:39:11,867 --> 00:39:14,000
That is all LG did.

467
00:39:18,131 --> 00:39:21,467
We were on strike from June 28 to July 10 [2012].

468
00:39:21,667 --> 00:39:24,000
We believed something would change,

469
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:28,433
that we would reach an agreement with the employer.

470
00:39:28,633 --> 00:39:32,300
Unfortunately, we were all dismissed for breach of discipline, instead.

471
00:39:32,700 --> 00:39:37,000
- Everyone wanted to go on strike, but then they got scared.

472
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,233
Probably that's why we don't have a job anymore.

473
00:39:41,433 --> 00:39:44,700
Because if most of us had gone on strike

474
00:39:44,900 --> 00:39:48,033
we probably would have gone back to work quickly.

475
00:39:48,233 --> 00:39:51,600
I think it would have ended that way.

476
00:39:58,332 --> 00:40:03,100
More than 20 people got fired, and all of them had permanent contracts.

477
00:40:03,300 --> 00:40:07,133
Those were the people with the longest work experience,

478
00:40:07,367 --> 00:40:14,266
those crucial for successful production,

479
00:40:14,466 --> 00:40:18,767
experienced line operators, technicians.

480
00:40:20,332 --> 00:40:22,999
Don't let them do what they did to us!

481
00:40:23,199 --> 00:40:26,567
Don't give up! Don't let them do it!

482
00:40:26,767 --> 00:40:30,000
Here is Poland, not China!

483
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:33,700
That's how the best line operator at Chung Hong ends!

484
00:40:33,900 --> 00:40:39,800
I shared this opinion. And yesterday, I ended up on the street, dismissed for breach of discipline!

485
00:40:40,100 --> 00:40:46,999
/Chung Hong exploits, LG profits/

486
00:40:49,053 --> 00:40:52,734
I felt bad when I got the notice for striking,

487
00:40:52,934 --> 00:40:55,333
as if someone had slapped me in the face.

488
00:40:55,533 --> 00:40:58,133
I thought I was a good worker.

489
00:40:58,266 --> 00:41:03,734
I had worked there for 3.5 years, and than such a dismissal on disciplinary grounds...

490
00:41:03,934 --> 00:41:08,767
It's s if the employer simply threw out a useless piece of junk

491
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:15,133
that got in his way because it took part in the strike.

492
00:41:16,333 --> 00:41:21,534
When you get fired on disciplinary grounds you don't get social welfare for 180 days.

493
00:41:21,734 --> 00:41:24,200
I lost my job, I also lost my income.

494
00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,267
At the moment it is very hard.

495
00:41:27,467 --> 00:41:32,734
My husband also works at the plant but also earns very little.

496
00:41:32,934 --> 00:41:36,266
It is difficult.

497
00:41:37,500 --> 00:41:43,300
Moreover, we support our pregnant daughter.

498
00:41:43,500 --> 00:41:47,166
We thought we could quickly find any job,

499
00:41:47,300 --> 00:41:53,992
but, unfortunately, we haven't found any.

500
00:41:54,800 --> 00:42:03,999
/The boss should work for 200 euro/

501
00:42:06,223 --> 00:42:09,367
Right now I am dependent on my brother.

502
00:42:09,567 --> 00:42:12,133
I have no income.

503
00:42:12,333 --> 00:42:18,533
I can't count on the job center, I can't count on welfare.

504
00:42:18,733 --> 00:42:23,833
in this situation we should be supported with some money,

505
00:42:24,033 --> 00:42:29,166
even if it's just temporary or one-time help.

506
00:42:29,366 --> 00:42:35,700
But nothing was done, and we were left on one's own.

507
00:42:35,900 --> 00:42:39,834
- No one cares about us, we don't exist.

508
00:42:42,363 --> 00:42:47,166
After losing my job in August, I went to the welfare office,

509
00:42:47,366 --> 00:42:51,300
because my children had to go to school in September.

510
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:58,033
They had no textbooks, notebooks, no school-accessories, nothing.

511
00:42:58,233 --> 00:43:04,534
So I went there, asking for help.

512
00:43:04,734 --> 00:43:10,534
I got a slip that said

513
00:43:10,734 --> 00:43:19,667
that my income exceeded 2 zlotys (0,50 euros) per person.

514
00:43:19,867 --> 00:43:24,900
So I didn't get any support.

515
00:43:25,100 --> 00:43:30,083
They told me that I had to get by somehow.

516
00:43:36,609 --> 00:43:39,900
In the neoliberal state investments, the accumulation of capital

517
00:43:40,100 --> 00:43:44,500
and the development of the GDP are more important than the well-being of ordinary people.

518
00:43:44,700 --> 00:43:49,367
Investors are more important than all other citizens,

519
00:43:49,567 --> 00:43:54,534
even if they don't pay taxes the state needs for infrastructure or the education of their employees.

520
00:43:54,967 --> 00:43:58,633
Workers are seen as costs that need to be minimalized.

521
00:43:58,833 --> 00:44:02,433
Public resources for care and public welfare

522
00:44:02,633 --> 00:44:04,633
are reduced to a minimum.

523
00:44:04,833 --> 00:44:08,000
At the same time, the managerial elites and the private sector

524
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,133
appropriate most of the produced wealth.

525
00:44:11,333 --> 00:44:14,767
The Special Economic Zones are no exception.

526
00:44:14,967 --> 00:44:17,033
Junk jobs, slave economy,

527
00:44:17,233 --> 00:44:21,533
the redistribution of public resources to Polish and foreign investors,

528
00:44:21,733 --> 00:44:25,999
political violence and economic constraint are more and more common.

529
00:44:26,500 --> 00:44:30,667
That's how the whole SEZ working for LG looks like!

530
00:44:30,867 --> 00:44:34,000
That's what these factories look like, and one must realize

531
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:36,300
that it is time to do something about it!

532
00:44:36,500 --> 00:44:40,233
The local government in Kobierzyce says how great it is

533
00:44:40,433 --> 00:44:43,500
what businesses operating in its region do.

534
00:44:43,700 --> 00:44:48,600
It says how wonderful it is it receives taxes from them.

535
00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:53,700
The local authorities should think a bit why this SEZ was created here.

536
00:44:53,900 --> 00:44:57,400
It is because workers are far away from their homes,

537
00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:04,239
so they can't unite and can be treated like cattle!

538
00:45:04,633 --> 00:45:12,033
/Chung Hong exploits/

539
00:45:13,255 --> 00:45:19,767
Even after all what happened, even if the strike didn't change anything,

540
00:45:19,967 --> 00:45:26,066
and even if we are left with no livelihood, I still think I had to do it.

541
00:45:26,266 --> 00:45:29,233
I couldn't accept that.

542
00:45:29,433 --> 00:45:32,800
[Special Exploitation Zones]

543
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:37,000
Anyway, no human being can accept such a degradation...

544
00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:41,567
Every human being can only bear so much, not more.

545
00:45:42,767 --> 00:45:48,934
When I joined the strike we tried to change something.

546
00:45:49,134 --> 00:45:53,200
I thought that if the majority of workers joined and it spread across the whole factory

547
00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:55,166
then maybe something could happen.

548
00:45:55,266 --> 00:45:57,900
If the workers in other factories in the SEZ realized

549
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:03,600
that in one factory people had decided to do something then maybe in other factories they would...

550
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:07,500
I thought that would have an impact, would lead to something new.

551
00:46:07,700 --> 00:46:11,667
But until the victory it needs time.

552
00:46:12,867 --> 00:46:20,300
/We are many, we will be more/

553
00:46:22,376 --> 00:46:25,100
Unity is our strength,

554
00:46:25,300 --> 00:46:29,133
and when one is already organized and the majority supports the strike

555
00:46:29,333 --> 00:46:33,700
then let's all go, let's show that we are the power,

556
00:46:33,900 --> 00:46:38,534
as we are many, and we can do more together.

557
00:46:38,734 --> 00:46:43,266
When you are alone, you can't achieve much.