GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

recently. Those atrocities were among the worst I think I have ever seen

evidence of, and that is saying something, given our experience of conflict over

the last generation. It was an honour. Nobody told me I had to speak when I

got there, thanks very much for that, but we managed to get through that.

In respect of Poland, I am sure that conference will wish to records its

appreciation to Doug for a most comprehensive report and the organisation of

that trip. It was certainly an eventful visit in a number of ways and our hosts

were most gracious and hospitable and we learnt a great deal. Among the key

issues we encountered, as referenced in your report, was a lack of a national

collective bargaining agenda, a repressive UKIP type Government whose

biggest contribution to their feminist agenda is to take steps to encourage

women to stay at home and look after the kids. There is progress for you!

Other negatives that we discovered included the division amongst various trade

unions through a whole host of reasons and an exploitation of that situation by

many of the huge multinational companies who operate in the Polish economy.

It would have been good to meet more working people in their various

respective trade environments. That did not prove to be possible, no fault of our

own, but that is something obviously we would want to look at in terms of future

trips.

There were a number of remarkable highlights of the trip, I should say, as well.

England winning two World Cup matches during the duration, much to the

chagrin of our Scottish comrades, but we are all mates at the end; discovering

the British bulldog pub smack bang in the middle of Warsaw and our own

Yvonne Pattison who unfortunately suffered the impact of PAVA spray in said

establishment when the staff demonstrated their unique techniques for dealing

with unruly customers. That was not Yvonne, by the way, it was someone who

was kicking off about the football! We saw quite a bit there. Not that John and

Sandra saw much of that, because they were whisked away in a black

limousine soon after touching down in Warsaw. It looked a bit shadowy, that,

and I thought there was some sort of splinter group that had emerged. We

later heard it was in fact the Musicians Union of Poland and I know they treated

John and Sandra to a massively cultural experience, considering the exploits of

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