Poverty in Poland (page 2)

avengers

Pole oh Pole Where art thou?

Give us an update as how the situation is in your country or I will have to come to your house and see for myself.

lol

Andy

roybatty

Wow am I a total thread killer or what?
Sorry KK....

Don't ya hate when that happens? You keep checking the thread but nothing new - you're still the last poster in an unfinished thread. Ug!

Pole

Thanks for btt'ing this thread misanthropic. I've only noticed this now.

I'm watching the BBC now, and theres a report about ex coal miners in Poland. They have no jobs, and so instead they attack coal trains, hang onto the side and pull the wagon doors open while the train in moving. Then people move in and collect the spilled coal from the side of the tracks.
They live on less than £2 a day. They are supporting families and children from the coal they manage to scavange and sell from the side of the tracks.

I haven't seen this report, but the problem reported must be a very limited one. Didn't they also show a horse-pulled cart and a bunch of elderly ladies grasping rosaries and praying to a figure of Mary ;-)
For the record: miners are one of the more priviledged social groups in Poland. They have very strong trade unions. For instance they had a special social support scheme when a large number of miners got laid off. According to the scheme they got the equivalent of 15,000 USD when they got fired to start a new life. And 15,000 USD is a lot of money here, because the costs of living are much lower than in Western Europe. You can easily live here making $400 a month. Miners retire after 25 years of work and they get pretty good pensions by Polish standards.
I don't think the report was about ex-miners. Most probably, it was about tramps who steal coal to support themselves (some of them may have been ex-miners especially if it was a report about the Silesia region) .
So don't jump to conclusions. Poland is a relatively safe place to live in in social terms. You get full health insurance even as a homeless person and it's quite difficult to end up as a tramp if you have family.
I saw many more tramps during my last visit to Boston than I've seen anywhere in Poland.
Go figure.
fleaman,
Yes. The "Polish plumber" problem was an example of unjustified French xenophobia. At that time there were only less than 1 hundred Polish plumbers in France (a market of 60,000,000 consumers). On the other hand there are some 250,000 Polish workers in Britain at the moment and they seem not to disturb the Brits too much because they take up the "less attractive" jobs.
Pole

Pole

Avengers,
The beer's here. Cool as ever. And the invitation is still valid. BTW, I visited Maastrich recently. I wonder if you live far away from there.
Poland is a pretty safe and stable place. One problem here is the quality of the roads. SO be carful when you're driving to visit me.
Pole

Pole

Sorry to have got excited about it, but I've just noticed this:
::Has anyone set up a fund for the unemployed Polish miners?
YES!!! The Polish government. 15,000 USD to each miner made redundant. Sounds good for the start doesn't it? LOL.
Pole

Narkissos

Here's the Polish plumber:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8396626/

DannyBloem

I am happy poland has become a part of the EU.

Of course some jobs maybe get lost to some polish immigrants, but then then it is a good thing to shear the wealth that we have. In the long run, it will create more opportunities for everybody.
I think poland is really doing very well. It has improved a lot in the last decades.

welcome!

Pole

Narkissos,
::PARIS - Live in France? Got leaky pipes? The Polish plumber — muscled, square jawed and downright handsome — won’t be there to help.
Hehe. And don't cry for l'infirmiere polognese either! Honestly, the fact that many people in France seem to have bought the Polish plumber argument against the EU Consitutional Treaty (??) has ruined the myth of the democratic maturity of Western societies that I had cherished for some time. Populism may be effective anywhere.
Danny,
I share your view and not just because I'm Polish. I believe "exporting wealth" is the best way to fight frustration and secure your own country's future. Poland has been really screwed up for the 45 years of communist rule, so I guess a temporary wave of Polish workers is a really small price to pay for our contribution to the fall of communism. Although I'm sure you don't get to see it much in your media, Poland is doing a lot to export Western values to the east (Ukraine and Belarus), thus stabilizing this region in the long run and reducing frustration there. (sometimes stabilizing things may require a peaceful revolution, though ;-).
As for Polish workers in Western Europe - there have been waves of Spanish and Portugese workers too when these countries entered the EU. Now it's no longer so attractive for them to leave their own countries looking for jobs. So, it's a small price to pay as I've said. Edited to add from the article linked by Narkissos:

Even Lech Walesa, the electrician who became Poland’s president after founding the Solidarity union, provided advice for Adamski before his Paris trip, telling him to ask the French “why the devil they encouraged Poles years ago to build capitalism since as we see now they themselves are communists?”

Pole

googlemagoogle

extremist parties always work with people's fears. losing a job is one of the biggest fears in central europe at the moment (there's not much else to fear...). and the big mix of nationalities in these countries makes a good target for rightwing propaganda attacks.

while eastern european prices are still lower than here, people fear they'd lose their job to some immigrant (so what? as if they don't have the same right to have a job...). at the same time they just love to cross the border to buy some cheap czech beer or whatever.

i think with time the financial situation in the EU will be balanced. there are groups who have strong sentiments against the EU (and the EURO... they call it Teuro here - teuer means expensive) but i, and most of the younger generation would never want to go back. i'm totally pro EU and contra borders.

DannyBloem

It will also mean people coming to Poland, for example there are (I have heard) already a lot of farmers from some of the western countries, because they are still able to find space in Poland, where in some other countries this is very hard.

Danny

Poverty in Poland

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