Railway Unions, Workers Picket PKP

On Oct. 13, a few hundred unionists and workers picketed the headquarters of PKP Railways in Warsaw. PKP railways, the former Polish State Railways, was divided into many smaller units in 2001 as part of restructuring inspired by both the IMF and European Union. Restructuring, increased outsourcing and financial manipulation has lead to severe job loss in some of the units of the PKP Group, most notably in PKP Cargo. The protest was directed towards one of the entities in the PKP group, PKP-PLK which is responsible for rail-line management including the maintance of the lines, conducting trains, setting timetables and managing the railyards.

PKP-PLK wants to liquidate 10 regional centers which would mean mass job loss in the company.

Some inside the PKP group claim that restructuring is often accompanied by moving assets and shady financial maneovres which benefit a few at the expense of the workers.