Poland has been gripped in recent weeks by a massive strike movement led by women in response to an attempted constitutional ban on abortion. rs21 spoke with several feminist activists in Polish union Inicjatywa Pracownicza about the movement.

Interview to Magdą Malinowską and Martą Rozmysłowicz (Workers’ Initiative, Poland) by Transnational Social Strike:  by: https://www.transnational-strike.info.

“For higher wages and lower rents”

The Women's Social Congress took place on March 3rd in Poznań. It was initiated by women employed in Poznań's nursery schools and cultural institutions, as well as by women tenants from Warsaw and Poznań. The Congress was organized in response to the need to extend the struggle for higher wages and lower rents, in which we take active part through trade unions and tenants' organizations. Often time, this struggle is a direct reply to the anti-women policies pursued by city governments. We see current attempts to further restrict the law on abortion as complementary to these same anti-women policies, but this time at the level of central government. As such, we also protest in the streets because we are part of the wider women's movement. The following list of demands is not a direct response to the authorities' attempts to limit access to proper medical care in case of unwanted pregnancy. Nevertheless, the lack of this sort of care makes our economic position worse, and this incites our dissent. 

A report from the Women with Initiative meeting, Workers Initiative Union, Poland, 21-20 April 2012, Warsaw; by its participant, Monika from IWW (X354612).

Women with Initiative is a working group in the Workers Initiative (which was started in 2001 and officially registered as a union in 2004, and has around 1000 members) that started three years ago. At first the working group wrote focused articles for the union's bulletin. They communicate via e-mail and have meetings at other actions and meetings, as well as specific meetings. They sent a survey to all local groups of the union before this meeting to find out what women members want the event to cover and what problems they face in their workplace and other struggles they are involved in.