Why did SIPTU invite Poland's big-business party to Liberty Hall?

international | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Monday October 01, 2007 01:14 by A Paddy in Poland

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Donald Tusk - Leader of main opposition Civic Platform party in Poland (Image from www.binokle.blox.pl)

Poor old James Connolly and his Irish Citizen Army (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Citizen_Army) comrades have had millions of reasons to turn in their graves since being killed by British imperialists 90 years ago - and now they can add one more, ironically due to the forthcoming Polish elections.

Background info. on upcoming elections:

http://beatroot.blogspot.com/2007/09/idiots-guide-to-po....html
http://beatroot.blogspot.com/2007/09/idiots-guide-to-po....html

I'm sure the Irish socialist leader and key organiser of the 1916 uprising alongside his principled comrades would have recently chased out Liberty Hall the leader of Poland's main opposition party, the economically neo-liberal and socially conservative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_Platform">Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska or PO) from the SIPTU (http://www.siptu.ie) Liberty Hall building, the headquarters of the Citizen Army's participation in the insurrection against British Occupation Forces.

PO is a member of the European People's Party and according to it's website "represents a synthesis of Liberal, Conservative and Christian-Democratic beliefs." The party leader Donald Tusk (yes, that is his real surname) is touring Ireland and Scotland at the moment, talking to voters in an attempt to woo his fellow countrymen and women to back him and his big business buddies to boost their bank balances by banking (alliteration not intended) on them to govern Poland correctly for the next 4 years.

Civic Platform are almost running on par in opinion polls with the current conservative government party Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc or PiS), and consequently the election results may see the former forging an alliance with the Left and Democrats (Lewica i Demokracja or LiD) block made up of leftist Solidarity activists and ex-communists.

Is your head spinning yet?

RTE reported on Sunday that "The latest census says over 60,000 Poles are usually resident in Ireland while other estimates say the figure is at least double that." Poles living in Ireland who are intending to vote in the premature elections have to register by October 16th in order to cast their votes in either Cork, Limerick or Dublin. Turnout of Poles in Ireland to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections 2 years ago was quite dismal, though I'm not sure of the exact percentage.

With an ever increasing number of Poles abroad, all the main political parties in Poland are waging campaigns in Britain and Ireland to pip their nemeses to pole position (pun intended). So while Connolly's firm stance against capitalism continues to inspire many of us, the pawns of the current pseudo-left Irish Labour Party (which Connolly founded in 1912) who all but control Ireland's biggest trade union, SIPTU, have stupidly bolstered the politics of a major Polish political party obsessed with the privatization of everything animate and inanimate, and the sustenance of capitalist oligarchs that have their tentacles in Poland’s lucrative pies.

In SIPTU's press release about PO's event in Liberty Hall the Campaigns’ Organiser, Anne Speed said “we hope that by inviting Mr. Tusk to Liberty Hall, he will get to hear at first hand the stories of Polish workers in Ireland – many of whom are being exploited by unscrupulous employers. SIPTU is continuously campaigning for improved labour standards and encourages Polish – and other migrant workers - to join trade unions to protect their rights."

Ah, ok, so why the fuck did you invite and warmly welcome the political head of unscrupulous employers in Poland?

More info. on Tusk's trip and Polish election campaign abroad at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/30/europe/EU-GEN..._news

SIPTU's Press Release on Tusk's visit:
http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2007/Name,99....html

"POLISH INN" on capel street EXPLOITING WORKERS!
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83758

Polish IWU report on Musgrave exploitation of agency workers
http://indymedia.ie/article/82373

Independent Workers Union
http://www.union.ie/iwucontents.htm

Polish Wildcat Strike In Dublin: Workers Refuse To Break Their Backs For Their Tesco Bosses
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/71189