All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions ( pl, Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Związków Zawodowych, OPZZ) is a
The mission of OPZZ is stated as the defence of social and worker's right of the trade unions. OPZZ has strongly supported the demands of state owned industry sector.
The OPZZ is governed by Congress (Kongres), Council (Rada) and Presidium (Prezydium).
OPZZ associates 90 nationwide trade union organisations (uniform trade unions and federations) grouped in 12 branches:
# Raw materials and power industry
# Manufacturing
# Education, science and culture
# Health care and social insurance
# Agriculture and food economy
# Construction, forestry, wood industry, environment protection and water economy
# Municipal economy
# Co-operatives
# Trade and services
# Transport and maritime economy
# Railways
# Communication
OPZZ also has its internal territorial structures, with territorial range corresponding to the administrative division of the country. These are voivodship (regional) councils (16) and powiat (district) councils (240).
In 2013, the OPZZ was estimated to have 500,000 members.
national trade union center
A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such a ...
founded in 1984.
History
Following the decisions of the Polish government declaring theSolidarity trade union
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
illegal, the OPZZ was created on 24 November 1984 according to the 1982 trade union act which made trade union pluralism illegal. The OPZZ inherited all of Solidarity's property, and also that of the former Association of Trade Unions. It was part of the pro-government Patriotic Movement for National Revival (''Patriotyczny Ruch Odrodzenia Narodowego'' - PRON). In 1985 it joined the World Federation of Trade Unions
The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation o ...
(WFTU). Until 1990 the OPZZ was tied closely to the Polish United Worker's Party
The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...
(PZPR). Following the end of communist rule in Poland the federation aligned with various post-communist and social-democratic parties (e.g. Democratic Left Alliance
The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Pol ...
, SLD).
In 2006 the OPZZ affiliated to the European Trade Union Confederation
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...
and the International Trade Union Confederation
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); german: Internationaler Gewerkschaftsbund (IGB), link=no; es, Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI), link=no. is the world's largest trade union federation.
History
The federation w ...
.
In the summer of 2006, Roman Giertych
Roman Jacek Giertych (; born 27 February 1971 in Śrem, Poland) is a Polish politician and lawyer; he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education until August 2007. He was a member of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) f ...
, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland and a stalwart of the ultra-right-wing and chauvinistic League of Polish Families, voiced his support for the confiscation of OPZZ property and the dissolution of the organization, branding it a mouthpiece of the Social-Democratic Union (SLD) and the heir of the Communist PZPR.
Activities
The mission of OPZZ is stated as the defence of social and worker's right of the trade unions. OPZZ has strongly supported the demands of state owned industry sector.
The OPZZ is governed by Congress (Kongres), Council (Rada) and Presidium (Prezydium).
OPZZ associates 90 nationwide trade union organisations (uniform trade unions and federations) grouped in 12 branches:
# Raw materials and power industry
# Manufacturing
# Education, science and culture
# Health care and social insurance
# Agriculture and food economy
# Construction, forestry, wood industry, environment protection and water economy
# Municipal economy
# Co-operatives
# Trade and services
# Transport and maritime economy
# Railways
# Communication
OPZZ also has its internal territorial structures, with territorial range corresponding to the administrative division of the country. These are voivodship (regional) councils (16) and powiat (district) councils (240).
In 2013, the OPZZ was estimated to have 500,000 members.
Presidents of OPZZ
* Alfred Miodowicz (1984 – 1991) * Ewa Spychalska (1991 – 1996) * Józef Wiaderny (1996 – 2002) * Maciej Manicki (2002 – 2004) * Jan Guz (2004 – 2019) * Andrzej Radzikowski (2019 – 2022) * Piotr Ostrowski (since 2022)References