Poland

[Gruchaa]

It's good to see that Poland is standing up for itself and that the Czech PM has come forward and cancelled the meeting in Israel.

It's good, but look again. Poland invited USA and Israel, organized this crazy conference and what? These two countries just threw accusations about how anti-Semitic Poland is and should pay for Jewish retribution after WWII. Additionally the old lady in USA TV speaks to American society that jewish rising in the ghetto was against Nazi and Polish (wth?) regime. And what most american people will learn? That Poland cooperated with Nazis, cause most of the people do not read anything and do not know anything. This is crazy and our Government is doing nothing.. only refused to go to Israel (and only after Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs statement). For me this is just trying to rescue the remnants of honor.. This is sad.

 

[angelburst29]

It's good, but look again. Poland invited USA and Israel, organized this crazy conference and what? These two countries just threw accusations about how anti-Semitic Poland is and should pay for Jewish retribution after WWII. Additionally the old lady in USA TV speaks to American society that jewish rising in the ghetto was against Nazi and Polish (wth?) regime. And what most american people will learn? That Poland cooperated with Nazis, cause most of the people do not read anything and do not know anything. This is crazy and our Government is doing nothing.. only refused to go to Israel (and only after Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs statement). For me this is just trying to rescue the remnants of honor.. This is sad.

My thoughts are more in line with "Poland was pressured into this"? The conference turned out to be "a sort of PR stunt" to stroke Netanyahu's ego? And Poland was used as a staging ground - so VP Pence could visit Auschwitz and use it an excuse to target Iran with anti-Semitism. While Netanyahu used the occasion to give a personal derogatory dig to Poland.

Netanyahu has been walking around like a wounded animal - firing verbal shots, at anyone he deems a target. Pence was his willing accomplice. As soon as Netanyahu traveled back to Israel, he stepped down as Foreign Minister. Not because he "wanted" to but he was pressured into it. So, he was knocked down a notch but he's still acting Prime Minister and is scheduled to visit Putin this week. Putin is probably - the only one - that Netanyahu would never dare to butt heads with. Putin might be sitting on information that Netanyahu prefers to keep a lid on?

Netanyahu gives up role as Israel's foreign minister
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday handed over his role as foreign minister to intelligence minister Israel Katz, giving up the portfolio he has held since 2015.

Poland says still awaits Israel's apology in Holocaust row
Poland is still awaiting an apology from Israel over comments made by Israel's acting foreign minister regarding the role of Poles in the Nazi Holocaust, said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek on Tuesday.

Russia's Putin, Israel's Netanyahu to discuss Syria in Moscow
Russia President Vladimir Putin and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold talks in Moscow on Feb. 21, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

The European Commission will take action against Poland if its government is harassing judges for consulting the European Court of Justice on the legality of Polish reforms, Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said on Tuesday.

February 19, 2019 - EU to take action against Poland if judges harassed for consulting ECJ
EU to take action against Poland if judges harassed for consulting ECJ

European Commission first Vice-President Frans Timmermans (R) delivers a speech during a debate on BREXIT after the vote on british Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Timmermans, responsible in the Commission for making sure European Union countries observe the rule of law, was responding to a letter from Poland’s biggest judge association Iustitia, which asked him to act.

Iustitia urged Timmermans to sue the nationalist and eurosceptic Polish government over the harassment of judges who question the legality of the government’s judicial reforms, by asking the opinion of the ECJ.

“Every Polish judge is also a European judge, so no one should interfere with the right of a judge to pose questions to the European Court of Justice,” Timmermans told reporters on entering a meeting of EU ministers who were to discuss Poland’s observance of the rule of law.

“If that is becoming something of a structural matter, if judges are being faced with disciplinary measures because they ask questions to the court in Luxembourg, then of course the Commission will have to act,” Timmermans said, without elaborating.

The Polish government of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has been in conflict with the Commission for undermining the independence of Poland’s courts since the start of 2016.

PROCEDURE
Worried about the government flouting basic democratic standards in the country of 38 million people, the Commission has launched an unprecedented procedure on whether Poland is observing the rules of law, which serves mainly as a means of political pressure.

The procedure could lead to the loss of voting power in the EU for a government that does not observe the rule of law.

Poland was the first ever to be put under that procedure, by the European Commission for undermining the independence of the courts “Sadly, not much has changed and some things even have worsened,” Timmermans said.

The EU has also launched a similar procedure against Hungary, where the authoritarian rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orban is raising concern in other EU countries. Brussels has also warned Romania to stop its push for influence over the judicial system.

Iustitia, grouping one third of all Polish judges, wrote to Timmermans to act against repressive disciplinary steps against judges by the National Council of Judiciary, which, under changes made by the PiS government, is now appointed by politicians from the ruling PiS parliamentary majority.

“The proceedings are usually initiated against judges who are active in the field of defending the rule of law, among others by educational actions, meetings with citizens, international activity,” Iustitia head Krystian Markiewicz wrote in the letter to Timmermans, seen by Reuters.

“Therefore I appeal for referring Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union in connection with the regulations concerning the disciplinary proceedings against judges,” he wrote.

 

[angelburst29]

A Polish charity helping victims of child abuse committed by Catholic priests accused 24 bishops on Thursday of concealing perpetrators of sexual molestation of minors.

February 21, 2019 - Charity says 24 Polish Catholic Bishops covered up sex abuse of miners
Charity says 24 Polish bishops covered up sex abuses of minors

FILE PHOTO: Workers walk in front of Poland’s largest Roman Catholic church and one of the largest in the world, Basilica of Our Lady of Lichen, in Lichen Stary, near Konin, central Poland October 9, 2012. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

The “Have No Fear” charity made the allegation in a report released as Pope Francis convened Catholic leaders from around the world to address scandals over child sexual abuse by priests that have ravaged the Church’s credibility over the last three decades.

The report, which has been delivered to the pope, named Polish bishops whom it said had “concealed clerical crimes and moved pedophilic priests from one parish to another”. It added: “Despite the fact that the Polish mass media almost every day talks about the abuses of children by clergy, bishops still do nothing about it.”

The four-day conference at the Vatican, dedicated to “prevention of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults”, is intended to help faltering attempts to coordinate a global response to the crisis.

The “Have no Fear” NGO also said some Church representatives still fail to report clerical sex crimes to Polish prosecutors.

Led by a former victim of clerical abuse, Marek Lisinski, the charity hopes its report will trigger resignations from top positions in the Church in devoutly Catholic Poland.

A statue of a priest who was leading figure in the movement that toppled Communism in Poland was removed by protesters, who accused the Catholic Church of neglecting accusations that he sexually abused minors.

February 21, 2019 - Statue of Polish Solidarity priest accused of pedophilia removed
Statue of Polish Solidarity priest accused of pedophilia removed

The monument of the late priest Henryk Jankowski is seen pulled down by activists in Gdansk, Poland February 21, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Bartek Sabela via REUTERS

The statue of Henryk Jankowski in central Gdansk - the birthplace of the Solidarity movement - was lifted from its plinth overnight by three men who then handed themselves in to police, Gdansk police spokeswoman Karina Kaminska said on Thursday.

Their actions came hours before Pope Francis opened a meeting he convened in Rome to address sex abuse scandals that have ravaged the Church’s credibility in Poland and elsewhere over the last three decades.

Jankowski, who died in 2010 and was never convicted of any sexual crime, was a Solidarity chaplain in Gdansk.

He was defrocked in 2005 amid claims he had corrupted minors, a year after an investigation into accusations that he abused a 13-year-old boy was dropped.

In an article published by Gazeta Wyborcza in December, a woman who said she had been abused by him as a child told the newspaper there had also been other victims.

Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz, who was murdered last month, said having the statue in a public space was inappropriate, but city bishop Leszek Slawoj Glodz portrayed the accusations against Jankowski as attacks against the Church.

A series of accusations of sexual abuse against the clergy in Poland, where nearly 85 percent of the 38 million population are Catholic, have also divided the country.

A Polish rights group on Wednesday delivered a report to the pope that accuses some Polish bishops of failing to report pedophilia cases.

The activists who toppled Jankowski’s statue said Church representatives had failed to “react to the evil” he had committed, according to a statement published on news portal OKO.press.

(Comment - Could there be a connection between Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz "murder" and someone in the Catholic Church trying to silence him?)

 

[angelburst29]

Robert Biedron might have the proper perspective - that the Catholic church wields "too much power and influence" in Poland? I don't agree with the headline - that Poland should be less "religious" but that it should be less catering to the Catholic church? If you were to do an indebt study on "any country" that allowed the Catholic church to gain influence in it's governing Legislative body (Congress), you will notice instances where economic reforms have been introduced in a Bill or amendment, in the form of humanitarian aid, that over time, reduces the economic imprint (lowers subsidies or limits quotas) that eventually slows down or stabilizes the economy at a base that keeps most of the population "at minimum wage" and stagnates growth in industry. The people in turn - blame the Government. Remember also, the Catholic church pays "no taxes" on church property and taxes on "real income' is generally, at it's lowest denominator, due to Charity status. Look at two Countries that have the highest number of registered Catholics, Brazil and Venezuela ... and look at their economy and pay scale. Yet, both Countries are rich in oil/gas production and assorted minerals and mine production. Poland has a strong Coal production base, yet it's economy is suffering. Sometimes, it's not the operational Corporations or the industry, itself, that are at fault but the Legislation that regulates it? Now, Poland is investing in "Military hardware" further draining it's economy, to satisfy US/NATO? ... Now - Who HAS invaded Poland? NOT Russia, Putin has no intension of invading Poland!

Robert Biedron, the founder of a new progressive party in Poland, believes ties between the state and the Catholic Church in one of Europe's most devout nations are "pathological" and need to be loosened.

February 28, 2019 - Progressive Politician tests appetite for less religious Poland
Progressive politician tests appetite for less religious Poland

Robert Biedron, the founder of a new progressive party 'Spring' ('Wiosna'), speaks during Reuters interview in Gdansk, Poland February 25, 2019. Picture taken February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

After four years of rule by the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), which has sought to promote traditional Christian values in public life, European Parliament elections in May and a national vote in late 2019 will show how many Poles agree.

Any substantial gains for Biedron’s Spring party, which polled at 14 percent after its launch this month, would be a feat in a country where the Church is revered for helping to end communist rule in 1989 and still wields influence with voters.

Though PiS is well ahead of its rivals in opinion polls, if Spring can galvanize more younger Poles to vote, some say it could help build a majority with other opposition parties after the election that could oust the nationalists.

Biedron, 42, who became Poland’s first openly gay lawmaker in 2011, accuses a succession of governments since 1989 of forging cosy ties with the Catholic clergy at voters’ expense.

Slideshow (6 Images)
Progressive politician tests appetite for less religious Poland

 

[Gruchaa]

that the Catholic church wields "too much power and influence" in Poland

True. Catholic church is way off privileged in Poland. Special church foundation has lots of properties in whole country which they shouldn’t. That need to be cut. However this „Spring” movement and Biedron have also weird social ideas. Which will require increase in taxes, cause budget do not have this money. This another leftist party I think. They are promising lots of things, which will need to be paid my normal honest working people. In my opinion there is need to have party with liberal approach to economy. With small work taxes and limitation of officials and bureaucracy. And which will introduce some order to lawless church

 

[angelburst29]

True. Catholic church is way off privileged in Poland. Special church foundation has lots of properties in whole country which they shouldn’t. That need to be cut. However this „Spring” movement and Biedron have also weird social ideas. Which will require increase in taxes, cause budget do not have this money. This another leftist party I think. They are promising lots of things, which will need to be paid my normal honest working people. In my opinion there is need to have party with liberal approach to economy. With small work taxes and limitation of officials and bureaucracy. And which will introduce some order to lawless church.

I was thinking that maybe - Biedron might be taking advantage of the recent headlines involving the Catholic church and exploiting it to his own advantage? Although, I do agree with him that the Catholic church wields too much influence.

There is one thing that confuses me with Biedron? The article states he's 42 years old, yet when I look at the photo's of him (like above) - I picture him to be at least a good ten years older? BTW, I just went back to the link above because there was a separate link with another 6 photos and now ... all the photos have been pulled - leaving a black box?

Slideshow (6 Images)
Progressive politician tests appetite for less religious Poland

 

[Possibility of Being]

True. Catholic church is way off privileged in Poland. Special church foundation has lots of properties in whole country which they shouldn’t. That need to be cut. However this „Spring” movement and Biedron have also weird social ideas. Which will require increase in taxes, cause budget do not have this money. This another leftist party I think. They are promising lots of things, which will need to be paid my normal honest working people. In my opinion there is need to have party with liberal approach to economy. With small work taxes and limitation of officials and bureaucracy. And which will introduce some order to lawless church

So the first question is if it's good to have a secular state. Not sure. Look at France and Russia, for example. And the USA. It's not obvious, at least to me. Poland is a Catholic nation and probably it's still majority of her citizens who like it the way it is. Plus, there are still old sentiments in place from the times when the Church was a bastion of Polish nationality and "statehood". With the strong trend in Poland to align with the West as much as possible, especially among the younger generation, going full secular poses a risk that should be taken under consideration.

Liberal approach to economy, you say? (Like Macron, to whom he is often compared and likes it a lot?) Maybe yes, may be not. It's complex, too. Biedron's political orientation is, let's say, center-left. He promises a lot, but from what pocket is he going to take the money? Haven't heard a sound answer from him yet. I think this post from another thread is relevant while thinking about which road a country should take economically. I don't see any discussion about it in Poland. All we get is electoral promises followed by corruption and nepotism/cronyism afterwards - again, and again, and again. Not to mention that in times of techno-/corpocracy rule, the most important decisions tend to be made elsewhere anyway.

Let's not forget that Biedron, the first ever self-outed gay MP in Poland, strongly supports and promotes the LGBT movement, is a founder of an anti-homophobic NGO, promotes same-sex marriage and LGBT adoption rights, and possibly more of what goes with 'progressive /social liberal' ideology. So far, Poland has been lucky to have only a little of gender studies and the pushing of such agenda, but he wouldn't resist when EU push in this direction as the currently ruling party does, I'm afraid.

What Poland needs most in my opinion is a wise foreign politics, many things could be easier (and cheaper) then. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[angelburst29]

The European Commission, which checks policies and projects by EU states against the bloc’s laws, has raised concerns about the planned canal, some of them environmental.

March 1, 2019 - EU says Poland cannot build Baltic Canal without approval
EU says Poland cannot build Baltic canal without approval

Poland should refrain from building a canal on its Baltic coast before it gets approval from European Commission, an EU official said, after Warsaw failed to assuage the bloc’s concerns about the project during talks in Brussels on Friday.

The case risks becoming the next flashpoint between Poland’s ruling nationalists and the EU, their relationship already strained by disputes over the rule of law and migration.

It concerns cutting through a thin, heavily wooded sandbank called the Vistula Spit, 55 km (34 miles) long but less than 2 km wide, which encloses a coastal lagoon shared with the neighboring Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Currently, the only access to the lagoon from the Baltic Sea is a channel at the Russian end of the spit. Warsaw says the canal is needed for both security and economic reasons.

The Polish government said after the meeting that the European Commission “confirmed the necessity of building a navigation canal through the Vistula Spit but asked to continue talks to discuss technical matters”.

But an EU official denied that, saying: “The Commission services did not confirm the need for this project.”

 

[Gruchaa]

Liberal approach to economy, you say? (Like Macron, to whom he is often compared and likes it a lot?) Maybe yes, may be not. It's complex, too. Biedron's political orientation is, let's say, center-left. He promises a lot, but from what pocket is he going to take the money? Haven't heard a sound answer from him yet.

When I was talking about liberal approach to economy I didn’t mean Biedron. I meant another party which should arise in polish politics. More Right in economy, which will not take so much from polish people by more and more increase in taxes. For example the ideas of party called „Wolność”(Freedom eng.). They had quite Nice ideas in my opinion. However their leader likes to talk very weird stuff and other people think about him as some crazy Man. Back to Biedron - as you said:

He promises a lot, but from what pocket is he going to take the money? Haven't heard a sound answer from him yet.

That is totally true and we Heard that so many times before. He will take the money from mid class working people as other politics are doing.

What Poland needs most in my opinion is a wise foreign politics, many things could be easier (and cheaper) then

I agree with that also and write about it before. Poland is not learning from their history. We are in such geopolitician location that we need to live good with both sides, west and east.

 

[angelburst29]

Murdered Polish mayor's deputy wins by landslide to replace him

Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the former deputy of murdered Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, won a landslide victory in elections to replace him in the northern Polish city, preliminary results showed on Monday.

As of 0600 GMT Dulkiewicz had won 82 percent of the vote on a turnout of 48.6 percent according to Gdansk’s website.

Poland’s major political parties did not field candidates in the election, meaning Dulkiewicz had only two opponents — far-right candidates Grzegorz Braun and Marek Skiba.


Poland defies green activists, EU with Baltic canal project

A general view of the harvested forest on Vistula Spit near Skowronki, Poland February 20, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Michal Ryniak via REUTERS

Poland is pressing ahead with plans to dig a waterway across a narrow strip of land that separates its main eastern coastline from the Baltic Sea despite concerns among activists and in the European Union that it could damage the environment.

Defending the project, which is estimated to cost 900 million zlotys ($237 million), Poland’s minister for maritime affairs, Marek Grobarczyk, said: “The first and basic reason for the construction ... is a threat from the east.”

“This is the border of the EU, NATO, and above all of Poland, and it cannot really be controlled now because ships can only enter the Vistula Lagoon with Russia’s approval,” he said, adding that work would start in the second half of 2019.

Russia has deployed advanced nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, while Warsaw is lobbying hard to have more NATO troops on its soil, especially since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Slideshow (4 Images)
Poland defies green activists, EU with Baltic canal project

 

[angelburst29]

Jacek Czaputowicz reiterated that last year Polish and Russian experts, in particular, "prepared a didactic manual for history teachers, an agreement permitting transportations was signed"

March 14, 2019 - Poland looks for possibility to restore relations with Russia, says foreign minister
Poland looks for possibility to restore relations with Russia, says foreign minister

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz © EPA-EFE/RADEK PIETRUSZKA

In its relations with Russia Poland is trying to look for spheres of cooperation which will make it possible to restore cooperation in the future, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz stated on Thursday in the Sejm (the lower parliamentary chamber) in the keynote speech of his ministry.

"We are looking for spheres in the Polish-Russian relations where common participation may help restore cooperation," he said. The minister reiterated that "last year Polish and Russian experts prepared a didactic manual for history teachers, an agreement permitting transportations was signed, important negotiation on diplomatic immovable property started, and a visit of Russian media representatives was organized."

"The regions of northeastern Poland and the Kaliningrad Region may expect financing under trans-border cooperation with a total volume of almost 60 million euros," Czaputowicz stressed.

The Polish foreign minister stated again that "Russia continues aggressive policy against Ukraine." "The possible dialogue with Russia within Euro-Atlantic and European structures should depend on the execution of the postulates of the international community," he noted.

The minister also called for the execution of the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which says that Russia should give to Poland the wreckage of the government plane Tu-154 that crashed near Smolensk in 2010.

Polish Church says 382 minors abused by clergy from 1990-2018

Bishop Artur Mizinski, secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of Poland, Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski deputy head of the Episcopal Conference of Poland, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, head of the Episcopal Conference of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, primate of Poland, priests Adam Zak and Wojciech Sadlon attend a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, March 14, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Adam Stepien via REUTERS

As many as 382 children were sexually abused by clergy in Poland between 1990 and 2018, according to findings presented on Thursday by the Polish Catholic Church in one of the most devout countries in Europe.

The report follows investigations into widespread abuse of minors by clergy in other countries - notably in Chile, the United States, Australia and Ireland - that have shaken the Roman Catholic Church to its foundations.

“This is an especially painful, tragic issue as it is connected with consecrated people, who devoted themselves to serving the church, other human beings. They have social trust and this social trust was so tragically violated,” Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski said at a news conference.

Polish bishops last year asked victims of past clerical abuse for forgiveness and began collecting data to “identify the causes of these deeds and assess their scale”. The report said as many as 198 of the victims were below the age of 15. Activists say the real figure is probably much greater.

 

[angelburst29]

Warsaw is likely to refuse Holocaust denier David Irving entry to Poland later this year, the foreign minister said on Friday, citing local legislation that bans denying the genocide.

Poland likely to bar Holocaust denier, foreign minister says March 22, 2019

FILE PHOTO: David Irving, the British Holocaust-denier, holds his book titled "It happened in the XX century Hitler's War" as he speaks to Reuters during an interview in Warsaw September 21, 2010. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Israel had urged Poland to deny Irving entry after reports that he planned to lead a tour of Nazi concentration camps in the country. The author of several books, Irving has denied that the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War Two.

Irving confirmed to Reuters by email that he had planned to visit Poland later this year, as he has in the past.

“Negation of the Holocaust is not allowed by Polish law, therefore he will not be welcome here in Poland if he wants to come and present his opinions,” Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters at a press conference.

Irving sued an American historian, Deborah Lipstadt, for libel in 1996 after she described him as a Holocaust denier. But Lipstadt won, in a case that became the film “Denial”, released in 2016.

Poland’s right-wing government introduced legislation last year that would have made the use of phrases such as “Polish death camps” punishable by up to three years in prison.

After pressure from the United States and an outcry in Israel, Poland watered down the legislation, scrapping the prison sentences.

But the row with Israel revived this year after Israel’s foreign minister said many Poles “suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers’ milk” and had collaborated with Nazis in the Holocaust.

 

[goyacobol]

FILE PHOTO: David Irving, the British Holocaust-denier, holds his book titled "It happened in the XX century Hitler's War" as he speaks to Reuters during an interview in Warsaw September 21, 2010. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

I am curious about David Irving so I am looking at some of his free books to see if he is really a Holocaust-denier or just someone the media does not like.

Here is an index PDF link to catalog his books which can be accessed by name in a free PDF version.

 

[Kmicic]

If I may, in Poland in this moment is teachers' strike. It started from Monday. Teacher's react to their extreme poverty and exploitation and they say that they had enough. They had enough of the lack of money for education and public deception in children educations. Throughout the country, over 80% of schools have suspended their activities. The government downplays the problem and tries to pollute the protesters in the eyes of the nation. The protesters, despite the difficult financial situation (low salaries did not allow them to postpone any cash reserve, so each day of the strike is a huge sacrifice for them) do not intend to bend, claiming that the truth must come to light that the society should know everything. All they have is dignity and they will try to fight to protect it.

 

[Hi_Henry]

Let me help you a bit as I doubt anyone will understand the issues of why these teachers are striking and going all the way this time, exams or not.

Warsaw primary school teacher Anna Zajac is not able to feed her family on her salary of €500 ($560) a month. After 13 years working as a teacher, she still lives with her parents, along with her husband and their two children. Renting their own apartment is simply too expensive.

"I love my job, and I really don't want to give it up," said Zajac, who concedes that these days she is thinking more and more about changing professions. Speaking to reporters, she held up her pay slip in front of the television cameras with a sense of desperation.

article

Another factor to consider here is that Poland (EU) opened its door (oh how easily it is done these days) to Ukrainians. The overall effect of this is that wages are pushed down by the inflow of cheap labor. Who wins ? Certainly not the average Polish worker.

Also consider thes factors from a EU report

Consequently,it is not likely that the majority of jobs will be replaced in the near future,
but there is evidence suggesting that automation will be a great challenge for employment.

The typical reason for a falling labour share is stronger growth in labour productivity than
in average labour compensation.27

High GDP is no guarantee of social progress. Recently the EU Commission (DG Regio
) has launched an attempt to measure the inequality of opportunity across Europe at sub-national
level through the Social Progress Index (figure 8).

Wage dispersion in Poland is high in comparison to the EU-27

The high-to-low wage ratio in Poland is the highest among the EU Member States (see Figure 1). In 2014, high-wage workers earned 4.7 times more than low-wage workers (see Frame 1 for a definition of high and low wages). By comparison, this ratio amounted to 3.1 in Austria. Aside from the Baltic states, Poland recorded the greatest wage dispersion in the EU -27 in terms of gross annual wages. A similar or higher level of wage dispersion exists in many medium or highly developed non-European countries with liberal labour market institutions (e.g. certain South American countries, South Korea, the US). Such liberal labour market institutions are understood here as having relatively low minimum wage levels, low employment protection and low trade union density. In the EU, the more economically developed a country is, the lower wage dispersion it tends to record.

Wage dispersion is determined by various economic factors that have an impact on the labour market (labour supply and demand, labour productivity, wage premium for tertiary education) as well as by labour market institutions. Technological and structural changes (such as the global decline of industrial employment) affect changes to labour demand as well as changes to remuneration for different types of work. The most important labour market institutions that influence wage dispersion levels are the minimum wage, trade unions and collective agreements.

report

Looks like Polish Labor is starting to slowly say that they had enough of rising prices and insignificantly changing wages. Of course Merkel will say that letting in more migrants will make things better. Sure thing, in a Far Off Galaxy.