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Poland Industrial Workers
Between 1947 and 1958, the number of agricultural
workers
moving to industrial jobs increased by 10 percent each
year. In
those years, most industrial jobs did not require even
basic
education. Therefore, over 40 percent of recruits from
agriculture were basically illiterate in 1958. From that
time,
however, the level of education among Polish industrial
workers
rose steadily. By 1978 only 5 percent of workers lacked a
complete elementary education. A fundamental change in the
social
status of workers was heralded by the first workers'
councils,
founded in the late 1950s to voice opinions on industrial
policy.
Those increasingly articulate leadership groups, dominated
by the
5 percent of the work force that had a secondary education
at
that time, led to the formidable labor organizations that
shook
Poland's political structure in the 1980s.
In the 1980s, workers age thirty-five and younger were
better
educated and more likely to come from urban families than
their
elders. Also, unlike their elders, the young workers had
been
raised under a communist regime and were accustomed to the
social
status conferred by membership in workers' organizations.
Many
saw their laborer status as an intermediate social step
between
their agricultural past and anticipated advancement to
whitecollar employment. Conversely, association with the
working class
was an important qualification for advancement into social
leadership positions both during and after the communist
era.
Labor's active role in the political and social life of
the 1980s
revived the self-esteem and prestige of workers. On the
other
hand, a 1985 study showed that 70 percent of workers did
not wish
their children to pursue a manual occupation.
In the late 1980s, some 45 percent of industrial
workers had
second jobs. Increasing numbers of moonlighting workers
sharply
stratified the working class, as workers without
supplementary
income were less able to maintain their living standard.
Major
inequities were inherent in the wage system as well. In
1986 the
best-paid workers earned nearly five times the pay of the
average
Polish worker, while 33 percent of workers received less
than 65
percent of the average wage. Postcommunist reforms brought
new
financial risk to industrial workers by lowering the upper
end of
the pay scale. That change, combined with the scarcity of
supplementary jobs, pulled a significant new section of
Polish
workers below the official poverty line in the early
1990s.
In 1992 workers in many industries, including coal and
copper
mining, aviation, and automobiles, organized strikes to
protest
lower wages and the displacement caused by economic
reform.
Outside the jurisdiction of Solidarity, which advocated
negotiation with the government, the strikes escalated
under the
leadership of radical labor leaders. Coal miners, who had
enjoyed
the highest pay and the best perquisites throughout the
communist
era because of coal's importance as a hard-currency
export,
played a central role in the strikes as they sought to
protect
their privileges.
Data as of October 1992
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