Jan 15: Budryk Update

Today 50 miners' wives and representatives of the union August '80 came to Warsaw ti try ti speak to Minister Pawlak. Pawlak went to a church event in Lublin instead. He commented that "the wives came for nothing" and "this isn't the PRL". "You can't give raises to those who scream the loudest," he said. The miners' wives wanted to present a petition and letter to Pawlak and speak to him about the situation in the mine. They claim that Pawlak only hears one side of the story.

The women were invited to the Center for Social Dialogue where they spoke to some members of the Ministry. A few were also invited to meet with the president's wife. The Law and Justice Party, and in particular president Lech Kaczynski, a former professor of labour law, are interested in meeting with all sorts of striking workers in order to present themselves as the opposition to the strict neoliberal politics of Civic Platform and its government.

At Budryk, 150 miners are occupying the mine 700 meters underground. 10 miners have gone on hunger strike. Yesterday one miner fainted and had to be evacuated.