We want free, independent and really self-governing unions. The country is in a difficult and crisis economic situation that resulted from the working people not having their own trade union representation.

This issue was raised at the latest plenary meeting of our party’s Central Committee. [...] It was stated that renewal of trade union activity is an important and urgent task. [...] It is necessary to take steps that would pave the way for a radical improvement of the situation and permit the trade union movement to strengthen its class character and regain its position among the people. [...]

For many years, the whole Polish economy, local and ministerial authorities have been held accountable for the volume of steel or coal, for how many metres of cable were produced. Nobody has held them accountable for the living standards of a worker, a teacher, an engineer or a civil servant. There existed trade unions, with the key goal to defend working people. And those trade unions did not defend those interests, to the contrary - being dominated by administration of work establishments, they did what managements wanted. [...] We aim to establish a genuine organisation of workers, one that people will believe in.

This must be a misunderstanding. We simply demand free trade unions and Mr Deputy Prime Minister [insists] on his conditions to modernise the old ones. This is not what we want. Far from it. This can simply be described as quibbling.