We are pleased to be here and we would like to thank you very much for the invitation. We believe that a network of leftist trade unions may by a useful tool in our struggle for workers rights all over Europe. We are honored to take part in this important and interesting meeting.

As you know, the political situation in Poland is quite complicated, and it might be hard to interpret it from Western European perspective. Political scene in Poland is still dynamically evolving and this applies also to the political left. Our trade union has a clear strategy of securing the presence of trade union agenda on the political scene.

We represent the Trade Union of Miners in Poland. With approximately 30.000 members it is the largest trade union in the mining industry. UMP belongs to the All Poland Alliance of Trade Union (OPZZ) on of the two major trade union confederation in Poland. The other is right-wing oriented Solidarnos'c'.

Although our power base lies in Silesia, we cooperate with trade unions from other regions. Our key allies are trade unionist from the energy industry. We also maintain strong links with health service workers, post office workers and teachers. Together we are able to lead countrywide campaigns in defense of workers rights.

Our basic activities revolve around the mining industry, but we are also interested in the issue of energy and social policy.

We try to create an active network of Polish leftist trade unions. In the last months we organized numerous meetings with trade unionist from the energy industry. We also organized two big conferences, involving politicians in the debates on trade union movement and energy policy.

We are interested in further exchange of experiences and cooperation with other European leftist trade unions.

Dariusz Potyra?a
Vice-president
Trade Union of Miners in Poland
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