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[Protest against abortion ban
Poznań 2016]

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00:00:09,820 --> 00:00:12,520
The government wants
more children to be born,

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00:00:12,801 --> 00:00:17,881
but do they have decent places in
nurseries and kindergartens?

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00:00:18,145 --> 00:00:20,184
We fought for kids
to have decent conditions

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00:00:20,465 --> 00:00:23,098
but the city didn't
care about us!

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Szydło [prime minister],
unfortunately your government

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will be smashed
by women!

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00:00:38,581 --> 00:00:42,773
Szydło, unfortunately
your government

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00:00:43,054 --> 00:00:45,460
will be smashed
by women!

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00:00:49,186 --> 00:00:50,715
We are
not alone.

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The world already knows about it
and protests in favor of us

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00:00:54,376 --> 00:00:59,043
in more than 50 cities of Europe,
Asia of both Americas and Australia.

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There are almost 20 million
women in Poland,

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that's 51.6 percent
of the population.

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We won't
be intimidated!

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We are not going
to submit to the sick law!

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We are here
for our own cause!

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The Women's strike
continues

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At first, we were seen as 'no one'
and treated as objects.

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They didn't want to talk to us,
and we were pushed to the side.

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They thought:
"They are only women from nurseries,

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what can they possibly do to us,
they only look after kids!"

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00:02:07,661 --> 00:02:12,934
Everything started in 2011
when the Childcare Act was changed

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and the care workers' working time was extended
[Justyna - nursery worker, the OZZ IP member]

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from 7 hours 35 minutes
to 8 hours.

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We haven't been
compensated for this.

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We didn’t get any additional time off,
we didn’t get a pay rise.

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We are angry and disappointed.
[nursery worker, member of the OZZ IP]

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We have been
to the city hall

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but don't know where that leads,
what lies ahead.

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We've started to knock
at every door and to ask

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what they are going to do with us,
what our options are.

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At first, all doors were
closed in our face.

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We got ignored,
and they saw us as strange people.

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[Katarzyna - nursery worker, the OZZ IP member ]

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We wrote a letter to the city mayor
of Poznań and stated

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that our salaries are very low and we have
not received a pay rise for several years.

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The city invests in new buildings,
they have money,

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so why is there
no money for us?!

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After some time,
the mayor replied

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and stated that we won't get
any pay rise until 2032.

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When we read it
we started laughing.

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We were also in shock,
and we thought the mayor was wrong.

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The unemployment was rising
since the 1990s and hit women first.

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Company nurseries and kindergartens
were closed with the declining industry.

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Until 2005, the number of
nurseries dropped by 74 percent.

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School day centers, libraries and cultural
centers were systematically closed down.

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The destruction of social institutions
increased the burden of women's care work

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which they do
for free in the households.

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In the past, everything was state-owned,
only taxis and farms were private.

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They began to privatize and sell
everything very cheaply

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00:05:08,938 --> 00:05:12,546
sugar factories, bakeries...
[Mirosława - retired nursery worker, the OZZ IP member]

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00:05:12,911 --> 00:05:19,989
The plants were privatized
and did not want to run nurseries.

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The nurseries
were at the plant

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and the first places were
for women who worked in the plant

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but they were managed
by the health institution.

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00:05:33,461 --> 00:05:35,773
- Children from outside
were also accepted.

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- But, first of all,
the children of workers.

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00:05:42,201 --> 00:05:43,826
- Like in the
tobacco plant?

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00:05:44,177 --> 00:05:46,387
- Just like
in the tobacco plant.

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00:05:47,104 --> 00:05:48,812
[Silvia Federici - activist from the
Wages for Housework movement]

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Women's reproductive work,
what we generally call housework,

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is the work that reproduced, historically
and to these days, labor power.

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It's the main source of the
reproduction of labor power.

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It's work that, basically,
reproduces the workforce

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on a day-to-day basis,
and on a generational basis.

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Clearly, from the beginning
of capitalism to the present

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unpaid labor has been a major source
of capital accumulation.

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Unpaid labor
through slavery,

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and later through women's
unpaid reproductive work

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has been a major source
of capitalist wealth

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in that it has reduced
the cost of labor.

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It has, basically,
enabled capital,

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particularly in the case
of women's reproductive work,

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to appropriate an immense
quantity of work at very low cost,

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and, at the same time,
it has succeeded

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in reducing the
cost of all labor,

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of all forms of
reproduction.

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Fundamentally, in the
case of women's housework,

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women's unpaid
reproductive work,

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this has been the engine,
this has been the instrument

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for the reproduction
of the workforce.

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Devaluing that work,
making that work unpaid,

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has been a
fundamental condition

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for keeping the cost
of all work very very low.

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00:08:01,970 --> 00:08:03,501
Did you get
the payslip?

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- I got a
payslip today.

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How much
did you get?

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00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,100
2,732 zloty
before tax (650 euros).

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00:08:09,380 --> 00:08:11,145
- How much is
it after tax?

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00:08:11,442 --> 00:08:14,684
It's 1,928 zlotys
(459 euros).

92
00:08:14,970 --> 00:08:17,899
- I got 3,192 zlotys
(760 euros).

93
00:08:18,242 --> 00:08:20,312
- You get
more than me.

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00:08:22,258 --> 00:08:25,874
- But I have
been working 28 years.

95
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- Oh my god,
almost 30 years.

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00:08:29,180 --> 00:08:32,788
- How much did you get
without the seniority bonus?

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- 2,280 zlotys
(540 euros).

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00:08:38,890 --> 00:08:41,560
- Shit, after
30 years!

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- I remember the beginning when we
started to talk about our salaries.

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00:08:50,788 --> 00:08:52,795
We could hardly
make ends meet.

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That year, there was a
football championship in Poland.

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The city invested, for instance,
in renovation work and the stadium,

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and in transport infrastructure
like the Kaponiera roundabout etc.

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00:09:15,354 --> 00:09:17,541
to make
itself attractive.

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00:09:17,850 --> 00:09:21,877
And people did not get any
wage rise, including the nurseries.

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Previously, I had
worked in retail,

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with long working hours
but a higher salary.

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I hoped that I would have
a permanent job at the nurseries

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and my life would
be more stabile.

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I would feel
more secure.

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I was wrong,
actually.

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I have a permanent contract and
insurance, and I can pay the bills.

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00:09:58,998 --> 00:10:06,865
But I don’t have enough time
for my private life.

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00:10:08,607 --> 00:10:13,248
Generally, people
don't talk about it,

115
00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:18,403
but in
this sector

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three quarters
of my colleagues

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have a
second job ...

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... just to live
a normal life.

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Because our salaries
are not sufficient.

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00:10:37,248 --> 00:10:42,140
They often do black work
or get part-time jobs.

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They take care of other children,
clean homes, or look after older people.

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00:10:50,966 --> 00:10:53,716
There you earn as little money
as in the nurseries,

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so, in other words, we work
two jobs to get one salary.

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00:11:04,548 --> 00:11:07,946
When I was employed
in a nursery

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00:11:08,282 --> 00:11:13,446
my 17-year-old daughter was in
a coma after cerebral tumor surgery.

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She required rehabilitation, and I had to
take her to the treatment facilities.

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And there were still
two jobs to do.

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Then I
collapsed.

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What kept me going was that I am single
and I have to support kids.

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However, I had no time
for my personal life.

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Many times I had to choose
between school meetings or work.

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I tried to be
at school meetings

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but in my purse
I had 70 zlotys (15 euros).

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00:12:03,686 --> 00:12:08,311
I had to go to work
to get cash into my hand

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00:12:08,623 --> 00:12:16,388
to be able to afford
food and pay bills.

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00:12:23,537 --> 00:12:30,394
Look at this old
notebook from 1979.

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00:12:31,696 --> 00:12:39,497
We used to have a
wage re-evaluation every year.

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Then they froze
our wages,

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00:12:44,310 --> 00:12:49,599
and for two years
everyone was waiting,

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00:12:49,951 --> 00:12:52,693
but 2 years later
there was still no re-evaluation.

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00:12:53,069 --> 00:12:54,912
- The football stadium
was built.

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00:12:55,232 --> 00:13:01,352
It was during the European
Championship in 2012.

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00:13:03,141 --> 00:13:10,286
In general, there was
great emphasis on sports.

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00:13:10,669 --> 00:13:18,141
Grobelny [mayor] and Frankiewicz
[vice-mayor] were crazy about sport.

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00:13:19,163 --> 00:13:24,873
Since there were no pay rises,
we started to...

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00:13:25,201 --> 00:13:31,357
... our salaries
dropped quite a bit.

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00:13:49,970 --> 00:13:52,680
Janka,
what did you do?

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00:14:00,020 --> 00:14:04,810
Honey I am going out,
will you fall asleep?

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00:14:05,162 --> 00:14:07,841
Capitalism structurally,
necessarily, is built

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00:14:08,138 --> 00:14:10,938
upon the devaluation
of reproductive work,

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00:14:11,810 --> 00:14:15,341
the devaluation of life, the
subordination of life

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to profit and
the market.

153
00:14:20,375 --> 00:14:26,337
In fact, women have been the shock
absorbers of so many crises.

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00:14:26,758 --> 00:14:29,188
When the wage
becomes precarious

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often those who compensate
with extra work are the women.

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00:14:35,290 --> 00:14:37,438
Women are
at the breaking point.

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00:14:37,781 --> 00:14:40,407
Women, now, have a work
outside of home,

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00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:42,657
often have to take
care of their kids,

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00:14:42,915 --> 00:14:44,696
they still do a lot
of housework,

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00:14:44,954 --> 00:14:47,704
and often they have to take
care of their parents

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00:14:48,001 --> 00:14:50,251
or, maybe, the parents
of their husbands.

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00:14:50,751 --> 00:14:57,421
So you have a tremendous amount of
housework still on the shoulders of women.

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00:14:58,725 --> 00:15:01,341
Many women will tell you
that they are at the breaking point.

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00:15:01,624 --> 00:15:03,544
Their life is a
continual crisis.

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00:15:03,827 --> 00:15:07,500
No time for themselves, no time
for their recuperation.

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00:15:09,703 --> 00:15:12,445
The wage workplace
has not changed.

167
00:15:12,711 --> 00:15:17,660
Actually, people are expected to work
even more and for even lesser pay.

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00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:31,967
After the authorities failed
to notice nursery workers

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00:16:32,270 --> 00:16:36,980
and we were
neglected and ignored

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00:16:37,310 --> 00:16:39,825
we were
desperate.

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00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:48,184
We decided to fight
so that the hard work

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00:16:48,504 --> 00:16:55,918
with the children
would finally be noticed.

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00:16:58,715 --> 00:17:02,368
[Picket in the city hall/
Poznań 2012]

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00:17:12,036 --> 00:17:15,843
We started to participate
in city council sessions,

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00:17:16,180 --> 00:17:19,116
we started to be interested
in the city budget.

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00:17:19,470 --> 00:17:21,647
As more people
joined our group

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00:17:21,930 --> 00:17:28,220
we thought about
how to attract more attention.

178
00:17:28,641 --> 00:17:30,429
[We want nurseries
to be cheaper!]

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[Blockade of tramway crossing/
Poznań 2011]

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00:17:34,092 --> 00:17:36,476
We organized
ourselves

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00:17:36,770 --> 00:17:38,680
and sat on
the tracks

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00:17:39,008 --> 00:17:43,953
at the access point
to the railway station

183
00:17:44,435 --> 00:17:45,975
We just
sat there

184
00:17:46,273 --> 00:17:50,075
and demanded
our rights.

185
00:18:14,871 --> 00:18:21,720
It was widely covered by TV
and newspapers.

186
00:18:23,622 --> 00:18:28,091
The authorities started
to discuss with us

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00:18:28,403 --> 00:18:35,060
but it didn’t have
the desired effect.

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00:18:36,707 --> 00:18:40,261
[Family and Social Policy Committee/
Poznań 2011]

189
00:18:40,550 --> 00:18:45,371
This year the city does not expect
any wage increases in principle.

190
00:18:45,683 --> 00:18:49,901
- But, Mr Mayor, I would like to refer you
to what you have already said...

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00:18:50,184 --> 00:18:51,495
Do we
have to...

192
00:18:51,770 --> 00:18:55,003
- The Social Policy Committee
is not the place

193
00:18:55,310 --> 00:19:01,157
where the issue of
salaries can be raised.

194
00:19:01,470 --> 00:19:08,631
That's not
what this is about.

195
00:19:08,970 --> 00:19:14,876
Do you expect the workers
to enter into a collective dispute

196
00:19:15,196 --> 00:19:18,845
before we
discuss anything?

197
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:25,750
In 2011, we established
the union section

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00:19:26,134 --> 00:19:31,127
in order to formally discuss with the
authorities what is going on in nurseries,

199
00:19:31,463 --> 00:19:35,153
what our work
looks like.

200
00:19:35,505 --> 00:19:43,426
At the beginning, the councillors
were shocked by the fact

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00:19:43,722 --> 00:19:50,894
that there were
40 children in the group,

202
00:19:51,224 --> 00:19:57,041
that there was constant
noise, screams, cries.

203
00:19:57,450 --> 00:20:00,109
You have to be
focused all the time,

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00:20:00,430 --> 00:20:03,049
keep an eye on
the whole group.

205
00:20:03,350 --> 00:20:08,270
If a baby has
high fever

206
00:20:08,614 --> 00:20:14,100
the caretaker must
know what to next.

207
00:20:14,567 --> 00:20:18,809
Once we were
refused an ambulance

208
00:20:19,098 --> 00:20:22,246
for a child that had shivers
and symptoms of sleep apnea.

209
00:20:22,645 --> 00:20:26,080
These are very
stressful situations for us.

210
00:20:26,393 --> 00:20:33,060
We need to know how to react, what to do
when a child falls and cuts itself.

211
00:20:34,242 --> 00:20:41,726
Children also have
different genetic defects.

212
00:20:50,668 --> 00:20:55,394
After we established the union section,
we entered into a dispute with the employer

213
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,282
to fight for
higher wages

214
00:20:58,579 --> 00:21:02,531
and equipment
needed in the workplace

215
00:21:02,867 --> 00:21:08,808
like disposable gloves,
window cleaning equipment...

216
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,640
This has helped us in
discussions with the authorities,

217
00:21:15,933 --> 00:21:21,540
and also the management
began to take us seriously.

218
00:21:27,322 --> 00:21:33,898
Two weeks ago, we sent our employers
a letter with our demands.

219
00:21:34,180 --> 00:21:40,164
They did not answer,
so we are now in a collective dispute.

220
00:21:41,015 --> 00:21:48,446
We heard that a pay rise
would cause redundancies.

221
00:21:48,801 --> 00:21:55,296
As a trade union
we do not agree.

222
00:21:55,625 --> 00:21:59,243
We want higher salaries
but not at the expense of people.

223
00:21:59,978 --> 00:22:02,228
We plan various
forms of protest.

224
00:22:02,751 --> 00:22:06,001
- A strike is the last resort
of collective bargaining.

225
00:22:06,376 --> 00:22:10,196
That is an option
we are also considering.

226
00:22:13,669 --> 00:22:17,004
1,580 zlotys (370 euros) after tax a month
after I have been working for 6 years.

227
00:22:17,323 --> 00:22:22,113
I have a university degree,
I am a nurse and a teacher.

228
00:22:24,839 --> 00:22:27,316
Are you
amazed?

229
00:22:30,696 --> 00:22:34,395
We organized a number of actions
to raise awareness about who we are.

230
00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:38,114
[Budget session/
Poznań 2012]

231
00:22:38,412 --> 00:22:41,863
We organized various
pickets and protest actions.

232
00:22:42,535 --> 00:22:47,529
We are disadvantaged in terms of income,
and we need a 30 percent increase.

233
00:22:47,808 --> 00:22:53,636
We won't accept anymore that there's no
money in the city budget, there is money!

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00:22:53,890 --> 00:23:01,115
If there is some for certain
professions or for the stadium,

235
00:23:01,390 --> 00:23:03,818
please, do not tell us
that there is no money.

236
00:23:04,100 --> 00:23:08,060
We no longer want to pay the cost of the
city's debts and the stadium construction.

237
00:23:08,318 --> 00:23:12,310
Educating small members of our society
for nothing or almost for nothing,

238
00:23:12,615 --> 00:23:16,036
and the division of labor that is
determined by these priorities

239
00:23:16,365 --> 00:23:18,656
in the budgeting and
the management of the city

240
00:23:18,927 --> 00:23:22,677
is clearly defined
by our authorities:

241
00:23:22,930 --> 00:23:26,672
Men are invited to the stadium,
women are supposed to change nappies,

242
00:23:26,953 --> 00:23:28,922
and work for
almost for nothing.

243
00:23:34,172 --> 00:23:37,289
We were on the picket line
in front of city hall,

244
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,076
at the unveiling
of the Christmas tree.

245
00:23:41,802 --> 00:23:46,653
Each time the mayor
Grobelny saw us,

246
00:23:46,997 --> 00:23:50,552
he loudly commented:
"You are everywhere!"

247
00:23:50,955 --> 00:23:52,833
Yes. We are
everywhere.

248
00:23:53,317 --> 00:23:58,600
- We were often invited to television
and radio, we flagged nurseries.

249
00:24:01,004 --> 00:24:06,142
- We pushed the city
to support parents

250
00:24:06,470 --> 00:24:09,243
financially and
with the fees.

251
00:24:09,689 --> 00:24:14,189
We highlighted more
problems than just ours.

252
00:24:15,236 --> 00:24:22,689
Many groups sympathized with us
and these friendships continue to this day.

253
00:24:24,267 --> 00:24:28,806
Many parents ask about our activities,
what we are going to do.

254
00:24:29,100 --> 00:24:34,365
Among the parents
are medical workers

255
00:24:34,733 --> 00:24:39,045
who are now protesting,
so we support each other.

256
00:24:42,928 --> 00:24:46,512
[Flagging of nurseries/
Poznań 2012]

257
00:24:50,716 --> 00:24:53,676
[We want to
live with dignity]

258
00:25:01,970 --> 00:25:04,274
[We demand
higher wages]

259
00:25:09,969 --> 00:25:17,905
In 2012, we organized
a very big demonstration in Poznań.

260
00:25:19,100 --> 00:25:27,053
That year the Euro 2012 championships
took place in Poland.

261
00:25:31,096 --> 00:25:36,900
We demanded: "Bread
instead of games!"

262
00:25:37,211 --> 00:25:42,273
Because not only
are the care sectors unnoticed

263
00:25:42,532 --> 00:25:49,883
but there are plenty of
other people like us in the whole city.

264
00:25:55,764 --> 00:25:59,568
[Bread instead
of games]

265
00:26:27,850 --> 00:26:34,943
Parents who give their
children to the nursery

266
00:26:35,287 --> 00:26:42,265
have the opportunity to go
to work and make some money.

267
00:26:43,054 --> 00:26:45,764
But such huge spendings
for the stadium...

268
00:26:46,060 --> 00:26:49,470
It was a
one-time event.

269
00:26:50,723 --> 00:26:57,893
Everything was done quickly and more
money was put into it and more again.

270
00:26:58,270 --> 00:27:04,120
Once for the turf, then again
for the turf, and again,

271
00:27:04,439 --> 00:27:12,391
because it was rotten, because it did
not grow, because it was too yellow.

272
00:27:12,757 --> 00:27:17,788
And we continued to earn
scraps and still do.

273
00:28:09,625 --> 00:28:13,115
When you look at the
question of reproduction,

274
00:28:13,422 --> 00:28:16,916
when you look at
what we call housework,

275
00:28:17,305 --> 00:28:20,468
domestic
work,

276
00:28:20,860 --> 00:28:23,589
and put it in
a broader context,

277
00:28:23,953 --> 00:28:28,681
and we look at it as part of what is
the reproduction of the workforce,

278
00:28:29,094 --> 00:28:31,703
when we look at it
in that context,

279
00:28:32,039 --> 00:28:35,474
then you see all kinds of
different possibilities.

280
00:28:35,836 --> 00:28:41,397
Then you see that the
issue of reproduction

281
00:28:41,789 --> 00:28:45,437
is central to every
point of production.

282
00:28:46,822 --> 00:28:50,002
At every place
where there is work

283
00:28:50,330 --> 00:28:52,997
the issue of reproduction
is important.

284
00:28:54,259 --> 00:29:02,243
For example, one of the stuggles
women have engaged in  in the past

285
00:29:02,541 --> 00:29:04,207
but they are
still today,

286
00:29:04,555 --> 00:29:10,250
is you go to work, well, if your
wage workplace provides day care,

287
00:29:10,626 --> 00:29:13,125
can you take
your kids to work?

288
00:29:13,860 --> 00:29:17,399
And how is work organized
once you go there

289
00:29:17,743 --> 00:29:21,914
so that you can also
have children there?

290
00:29:22,868 --> 00:29:27,816
Or how else is the question of day care
going to be solved if you have children?

291
00:29:28,079 --> 00:29:29,345
This is
one issue.

292
00:29:29,599 --> 00:29:31,301
Second, the question
of the house.

293
00:29:31,716 --> 00:29:35,168
If the house is, in fact,
part of the social factory

294
00:29:35,505 --> 00:29:37,622
that produces
the workforce

295
00:29:37,966 --> 00:29:41,112
then what does it mean
that we have to pay rent for it?

296
00:29:41,394 --> 00:29:46,003
What does it mean that we have, in fact,
to pay a tremendous amount of rent?

297
00:29:46,937 --> 00:29:53,512
Why can't we say, look, you employers
are benefitting from the work

298
00:29:53,786 --> 00:29:55,052
we are
doing here.

299
00:29:55,403 --> 00:29:58,848
And, therefore, we have a whole
set of entitlements

300
00:29:59,145 --> 00:30:00,840
around the
question of rent.

301
00:30:01,106 --> 00:30:06,731
I think, the rent... looking
at the home as a factory

302
00:30:07,107 --> 00:30:09,107
for the production
of workers

303
00:30:09,497 --> 00:30:14,816
gives us new ways of thinking also
about the struggle about housing.

304
00:30:17,483 --> 00:30:24,100
I think that this is a perspective
that is very important.

305
00:30:24,506 --> 00:30:28,039
to look again at all so-called
points of production

306
00:30:28,342 --> 00:30:30,935
and realise that the home
is a point of production, too.

307
00:30:32,288 --> 00:30:36,162
And when we go to work
outside the home

308
00:30:36,505 --> 00:30:39,981
we carry on our shoulder
all the issues.

309
00:30:42,914 --> 00:30:45,668
If we have children
that are ill,

310
00:30:46,083 --> 00:30:49,865
if we have elder parents who
are not self-sufficient,

311
00:30:50,170 --> 00:30:55,504
all these questions, we don't just leave
them behind us when we shut the door,

312
00:30:55,787 --> 00:30:57,121
they come
with us.

313
00:30:57,459 --> 00:31:02,259
And the wage workplace has to be changed
to accommodate to this issue.

314
00:31:02,562 --> 00:31:07,297
This is the struggle, because otherwise
it destroys our lives.

315
00:31:28,021 --> 00:31:30,231
We've been fighting
for over 6 years.

316
00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,390
During this time, we managed
to achieve a lot.

317
00:31:33,752 --> 00:31:37,350
We forced the authorities of Poznań to
increase the number of places in nurseries.

318
00:31:37,682 --> 00:31:40,822
We stopped the liquidation
of the kitchens operating in them.

319
00:31:41,140 --> 00:31:44,462
We also blocked the project
of the privatization of nurseries.

320
00:31:47,267 --> 00:31:51,415
In 2014, the newly elected
city mayor Jacek Jaśkowiak

321
00:31:51,743 --> 00:31:55,126
promised us a salary increase
of 700 zlotys (165 euros).

322
00:31:55,735 --> 00:32:00,703
In the last 3 years, our salaries have
increased by only 400 zlotys (95 euros).

323
00:32:01,102 --> 00:32:05,336
Every year, they tell us that
because of other budget expenditures

324
00:32:05,696 --> 00:32:08,398
it would be impossible
to meet our needs.

325
00:32:11,477 --> 00:32:15,734
- The mayor offered
us 100 zlotys (24 euros).

326
00:32:16,898 --> 00:32:19,297
But that's
nothing for us.

327
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,521
The authorities explain that they are
making a lot of investments in our city.

328
00:32:24,521 --> 00:32:27,937
[Iza, Dorota, Lidja, Renata, Romana - nursery workers, the members of OZZ IP]

329
00:32:27,930 --> 00:32:32,873
A lot of money went
to the reform of education.

330
00:32:33,140 --> 00:32:38,499
There would be not enough money for us,
we would have exorbitant demands.

331
00:32:38,810 --> 00:32:43,053
- Not only we
are in this situation

332
00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:50,755
but museums, ZAMEK Culture Centre,
theaters, libraries...

333
00:32:51,060 --> 00:32:58,474
Lots of people say that our marginalization
- and we are almost all women -

334
00:32:58,778 --> 00:33:01,817
looks like the discrimination
of women.

335
00:33:04,890 --> 00:33:06,559
- You are not
flexible enough.

336
00:33:06,882 --> 00:33:12,296
- The mayor is
not flexible enough.

337
00:33:12,882 --> 00:33:19,100
It should be taken into consideration that,
unfortunately, our work does not end here.

338
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,720
You go back home
and also work.

339
00:33:32,094 --> 00:33:36,684
They don't want to
give us money.

340
00:33:36,983 --> 00:33:40,195
The authorities always
say that they can't do that

341
00:33:40,498 --> 00:33:42,640
although they pay
themselves huge salaries.

342
00:33:42,967 --> 00:33:47,560
We are going
to organize protests.

343
00:33:48,668 --> 00:33:52,310
We will occupy
the city hall.

344
00:33:52,708 --> 00:33:54,418
I don't know
what next.

345
00:33:54,731 --> 00:34:02,231
We'll take sleeping bags,
coffee, sandwiches, we'll fight.

346
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,941
They must find
money for us.

347
00:34:06,371 --> 00:34:09,730
[Protest in the city hall/
Poznań 2017]

348
00:34:18,850 --> 00:34:22,751
Now, the authorities are more
willing to talks to us,

349
00:34:23,067 --> 00:34:26,539
and they try
to get along with us.

350
00:34:26,890 --> 00:34:29,562
Maybe they think that
after these meetings

351
00:34:29,907 --> 00:34:33,707
we will be softer and
no longer fight for a wage raise.

352
00:34:41,390 --> 00:34:44,187
Local officials have misled
us for many months.

353
00:34:44,523 --> 00:34:48,296
Finally, together with other
unions of public employees,

354
00:34:48,585 --> 00:34:52,093
we filed a petition, demanding
what we were promised.

355
00:34:55,881 --> 00:35:00,216
We are organizing this action
because the talks

356
00:35:00,521 --> 00:35:04,576
with the city and the mayor
did not go anywhere.

357
00:35:05,474 --> 00:35:08,406
We will strike
if we manage to do it.

358
00:35:22,519 --> 00:35:30,448
We are unsatisfied with the fact that
the mayor didn't show up to talk to us.

359
00:35:31,109 --> 00:35:35,859
The mayor escaped,
he doesn’t care about us.

360
00:35:36,220 --> 00:35:41,810
He didn't want to talk to us,
he sneaked out like a rat and ran away.

361
00:35:42,083 --> 00:35:45,270
He said he had other duties,
something more important

362
00:35:45,552 --> 00:35:49,019
than 9,200 workers
who demand a wage increase.

363
00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:03,430
We demand decent wages and
shorter working hours

364
00:36:03,766 --> 00:36:08,586
because we work with very
small children, difficult children.

365
00:36:08,930 --> 00:36:12,515
We want to reduce the number
of children in the groups.

366
00:36:12,835 --> 00:36:15,720
40 children in one group
is like in a storage room.

367
00:36:16,030 --> 00:36:18,694
We can't take good care
of children under such conditions.

368
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,913
So we demand higher wages, shorter
working hours and fewer children per group.

369
00:36:32,191 --> 00:36:35,667
Whatever we do
it makes sense,

370
00:36:35,970 --> 00:36:42,267
regardless of whether
it's a big or a small step.

371
00:36:42,582 --> 00:36:44,790
It's worth
to fight

372
00:36:45,095 --> 00:36:47,325
because we fight
for our own interest,

373
00:36:47,626 --> 00:36:49,962
we fight for
a life in dignity,

374
00:36:50,283 --> 00:36:54,409
we don't fight with greed
but only to get by.

375
00:36:55,644 --> 00:36:59,663
We also fight to
improve other people's lives.

376
00:37:02,261 --> 00:37:07,936
[A nursery is
not a storage room]

377
00:37:10,038 --> 00:37:15,116
At the beginning, it was hard for us
because of all these actions and pickets.

378
00:37:15,390 --> 00:37:19,803
We were forced to open up
to the media, to society,

379
00:37:20,100 --> 00:37:26,732
we had to become hard-headed women
who stubbornly pursue their goal.

380
00:37:28,350 --> 00:37:33,954
We also realized that
what we do is important

381
00:37:34,321 --> 00:37:41,461
and must be appreciated, and that
they must realize what is important.

382
00:37:41,977 --> 00:37:45,888
It should not be the case that if there
are pots and nappies in kindergartens,

383
00:37:46,154 --> 00:37:48,147
women may do this job
just like that.

384
00:37:55,588 --> 00:37:59,424
I would say that reproductive
work is the most important work,

385
00:37:59,721 --> 00:38:05,064
the most indespensible for the
capitalist organization of labor.

386
00:38:06,205 --> 00:38:10,273
Without workers there is no
production for the market.

387
00:38:10,579 --> 00:38:14,258
Without workers
there is no profit.

388
00:38:14,595 --> 00:38:18,949
Just think about
what it means

389
00:38:19,337 --> 00:38:25,329
an expanded population from the
point of view of capital.

390
00:38:28,180 --> 00:38:32,905
The expansion of capitalist relations
is already provided

391
00:38:33,282 --> 00:38:34,873
by the growth
of population.

392
00:38:35,923 --> 00:38:42,064
This is the reason why capitalism
and capitalist society

393
00:38:42,339 --> 00:38:44,814
have always tried to control
the female body

394
00:38:45,089 --> 00:38:47,948
to control, for example,
abortion,

395
00:38:48,300 --> 00:38:55,258
to control reproduction, procreation,
the forms of procreation.

396
00:38:55,698 --> 00:38:59,424
Because this is very much part of the
formation of a labor market

397
00:38:59,768 --> 00:39:02,823
these are activities
that are very instrumental

398
00:39:03,073 --> 00:39:05,666
for the formation
of the workforce.

399
00:39:16,768 --> 00:39:19,830
[March 8 demonstration/
Poznań 2017]

400
00:39:54,426 --> 00:39:59,684
[No compromise. Against state violence]
[We resign from service at home and work]

401
00:40:04,670 --> 00:40:10,310
6 years ago we said it is enough,
and we set up a trade union section.

402
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,318
We lay down on the tracks
as to get attention,

403
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:20,362
and we wanted the buildings back
for the youngest children.

404
00:40:21,184 --> 00:40:25,933
Workers' rights, yes! Sisterhood, yes!
Women's strike, yes!

405
00:40:26,230 --> 00:40:27,355
Yes, yes,
yes!

406
00:40:35,376 --> 00:40:38,524
Thanks to our activities
in the work units

407
00:40:38,726 --> 00:40:41,109
the working and living conditions
in the city have improved.

408
00:40:41,390 --> 00:40:45,266
We demand a change in social policy
and influence on the city budget.

409
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:50,178
We resist when politicians
and businesses seek to marginalize

410
00:40:50,436 --> 00:40:55,438
the so-called women's sectors, such
as education, social welfare, or culture.

411
00:40:55,944 --> 00:41:00,529
This is our response to
starvation wages, high rents

412
00:41:00,834 --> 00:41:05,542
and a ban on abortion
that limits our access to public health.

413
00:41:06,193 --> 00:41:09,419
We fight against
women's oppression

414
00:41:09,701 --> 00:41:13,277
in workplaces and continue
to do so outside their walls.

415
00:41:16,905 --> 00:41:24,889
We engaged in the
fights so deeply

416
00:41:25,184 --> 00:41:33,109
that we started to support Manifa
[March 8/Women's Day]

417
00:41:33,413 --> 00:41:37,389
and the "Black Protest"
[against abortion law amendments].

418
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:44,671
These demonstrations are not
only about abortion and the body,

419
00:41:45,046 --> 00:41:50,020
but also about
the fate of women.

420
00:41:50,770 --> 00:41:55,054
Because women in this country
do not have a voice.

421
00:41:55,582 --> 00:41:58,789
A woman works
all her life.

422
00:42:00,156 --> 00:42:02,406
When she is young
she learns,

423
00:42:02,761 --> 00:42:06,350
she meets her boyfriend
and cares about him,

424
00:42:06,636 --> 00:42:09,245
they have children,
she goes to work,

425
00:42:09,542 --> 00:42:13,009
some of them study,
and she still does domestic work.

426
00:42:13,727 --> 00:42:15,922
Women's whole life
is like that.

427
00:42:16,339 --> 00:42:20,249
When they want to decide
how they want to live,

428
00:42:20,570 --> 00:42:24,639
how many children they want
to have, the authorities ban it.

429
00:42:24,950 --> 00:42:27,741
For me,
this is a shame.

430
00:42:28,053 --> 00:42:31,053
In my head it doesn't
make any sense,

431
00:42:31,357 --> 00:42:33,842
the fire in me is burning,
it wants to explode.

432
00:42:34,138 --> 00:42:39,348
I would take the guy
who is responsible for it

433
00:42:39,661 --> 00:42:44,973
and hang him on a hook,
this is the only option.

434
00:42:45,707 --> 00:42:50,121
Same for children
with disabilities...

435
00:42:50,516 --> 00:42:58,219
Why do most women
became single with such children?

436
00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:00,349
Men often
leave us.

437
00:43:00,648 --> 00:43:04,044
Why are such fathers
not forced to take care of them?

438
00:43:04,411 --> 00:43:08,411
They pay the minimum
alimony and that's it.

439
00:43:09,020 --> 00:43:15,902
Throughout her whole life,
the woman works 24 hours a day.

440
00:43:16,238 --> 00:43:24,226
She has to cook for the child,
take it to rehab in hospital.

441
00:43:25,968 --> 00:43:32,401
On average, disabled people
live for 45 years.

442
00:43:33,666 --> 00:43:37,978
For those 45 years a woman is at
their disposal around the clock.

443
00:43:38,357 --> 00:43:43,423
There is no vacation, leisure,
free weekends, she only works.

444
00:43:44,812 --> 00:43:46,921
Where is equality?
It does not exist!

445
00:43:47,180 --> 00:43:49,555
And someone from the
government will tell me

446
00:43:49,813 --> 00:43:53,420
that knowing that my child will be sick
I am still obliged to give birth?

447
00:43:53,702 --> 00:43:56,280
No, this is my decision,
my conscience.

448
00:43:56,537 --> 00:43:59,273
I want to decide
whether I want it or not.

449
00:44:13,375 --> 00:44:19,100
We women feel bad about
what they do to us.

450
00:44:19,374 --> 00:44:23,366
We have problems
with health care,

451
00:44:23,624 --> 00:44:29,593
and they do not take
our expectations into account,

452
00:44:29,913 --> 00:44:37,827
for example, in the case of abortion
or caring for pregnant women.

453
00:44:41,105 --> 00:44:49,073
What to do? We have to organize ourselves
in our work units

454
00:44:49,395 --> 00:44:54,765
and start to fight for a
better life with full force.

455
00:44:55,786 --> 00:44:59,716
We should set up trade unions,
we have to get together,

456
00:45:00,028 --> 00:45:02,005
otherwise we will
not accomplish anything.

457
00:45:02,357 --> 00:45:05,942
No one appreciates us,
not even the mayor,

458
00:45:06,225 --> 00:45:13,785
but because we have support
from the union we can fight.

459
00:45:14,075 --> 00:45:18,106
We can bang on
the mayor's table

460
00:45:18,396 --> 00:45:22,481
and there is no excuse
that he will not talk to us.

461
00:45:22,770 --> 00:45:25,887
We are strong, resilient,
and we will keep fighting.

462
00:45:54,004 --> 00:45:57,930
I want my doctor's office
to be free from human rights' violations.

463
00:45:58,199 --> 00:46:00,964
I want my patients
to be safe.

464
00:46:01,285 --> 00:46:09,100
I want a medicine based
on knowledge, not beliefs.

465
00:46:21,693 --> 00:46:26,943
Until today, we have fought for
a lot more places in the nurseries,

466
00:46:27,248 --> 00:46:34,912
we have a better job, more
opportunities to take care of children.

467
00:46:35,285 --> 00:46:41,800
We are strong, we are unified,
we are organized!

468
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:49,914
We will decide ourselves about our lives,
the lives of our daughters and sisters.

469
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:55,933
You will not destroy us and you will
not make us a slave of one party.

470
00:46:56,300 --> 00:46:58,753
I am begging
you all women,

471
00:46:59,096 --> 00:47:03,252
don't allow them
to leave us handcuffed,

472
00:47:03,525 --> 00:47:08,478
don't let the government
plan for and rule over us.

473
00:47:10,091 --> 00:47:13,334
We don't care
about your law,

474
00:47:13,630 --> 00:47:17,960
and this means
that we will not obey it,

475
00:47:18,303 --> 00:47:24,178
and we will do everything so that
no one will fall prey to your cruelty.

476
00:47:24,529 --> 00:47:28,489
We don't care about you
and your sick law,

477
00:47:28,785 --> 00:47:36,770
we don't care about this country,
we don't care about your law.

478
00:47:46,771 --> 00:47:56,187
This is a warning strike, this is a warning strike

479
00:47:56,979 --> 00:48:01,021
It was a strike, a warning strike,

480
00:48:01,021 --> 00:48:01,062
Now, it's time for a general strike
It was a strike, a warning strike,

481
00:48:01,062 --> 00:48:06,104
Now, it's time for a general strike

482
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:26,600
On October 3rd 2016,
thousands of women took the streets

483
00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:29,680
in 140 Polish cities.

484
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:34,150
They protested against the bill
prohibiting abortion.

485
00:48:34,150 --> 00:48:38,896
Spontaneous demonstrations were organised

486
00:48:38,896 --> 00:48:42,062
under the slogan "Women's Strike".

487
00:48:42,062 --> 00:48:48,146
In Poznań, thousands of women went to
the office of the ruling party,

488
00:48:48,146 --> 00:48:51,979
where there was a confrontation with the police.

489
00:48:51,979 --> 00:48:56,687
In the end, the nationwide protests were successful.

490
00:48:56,687 --> 00:49:02,021
The government withdrew the project
pressured by women’s protest.

491
00:49:02,021 --> 00:49:05,687
Women’s power did not appear out of thin air.

492
00:49:05,687 --> 00:49:09,854
At its source is organizing
in the worker’s union,among others.

493
00:49:09,854 --> 00:49:14,170
Nursery school workers in Poznan
have been fighting over 8 years

494
00:49:14,170 --> 00:49:17,770
for higher wages and better work conditions.

495
00:49:17,770 --> 00:49:23,146
Besides the workplace,they also organized
the Women’s Social Congress.

496
00:49:23,146 --> 00:49:28,146
That was their response to
Poznań city government’s anti-women politics.

497
00:49:28,146 --> 00:49:31,854
The congress created a list of demands,

498
00:49:31,854 --> 00:49:37,146
which joined women workers
fighting for better work conditions

499
00:49:37,146 --> 00:49:42,521
with women tenants fighting for general access to housing.

500
00:49:42,521 --> 00:49:47,312
The list includes the demand to shorten working time,

501
00:49:47,312 --> 00:49:52,146
to plan working time according to the needs of workers,

502
00:49:52,146 --> 00:49:56,062
to increase wages at public institutions,

503
00:49:56,062 --> 00:50:00,854
to increase the number of spots in public nurseries

504
00:50:00,854 --> 00:50:04,896
and the development of public housing.