STORIES OF CHANGEMAKERS

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NADIA OLESZCZUK-ZYGMUNTOWSKA

I come from a small town - Rzepin, and I have been socially active since I was young.

I started my activities with youth councils, including representing the land I come from in the Children and Youth Council at the Ministry of Education. I was encouraged to become active in the labor union by my first job at a gas station between high school graduation and my first year of college, which I took in order to be able to support myself through my first semester of college. 12-hour shifts, working at night. People working at the station for several years at a time were exhausted. Migrants and migrant women from the East, employed by an employment agency, earning below the minimum hourly wage, predominated. Therefore, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, aware of the working conditions of migrants, I became involved in the Unions Help Refugees initiative to help refugee women find their way in the Polish labor market.

Traditionally, unions have tried to organize workers in their work environment. This used to be much easier. In large factories, workers were constantly in contact with each other, they could discuss their problems in daily conversations or debate them in the cafeteria, for example. It was easier to crusade, organize and take up the fight for better employment conditions. In the case of young workers and female employees employed on unstable forms of employment (civil law contracts, temporary work, unpaid internships, self-employment) and for this reason often changing jobs, this is very difficult. Environmental organization is an opportunity to bring them together bypassing the aforementioned difficulties. It is for these reasons that we founded the labor union "Konfederacja Pracy Młodych." We unite people up to the age of 35 who work based on the unstable forms of employment I have already mentioned, including platform workers, the harassed and excluded. The resulting organization is a grassroots initiative and is a form of reaching out to everyone, regardless of the form of employment.

The average age of Polish trade unionists is quite a problem. It is 47 years old. I will say more - one in twenty union members is already a pensioner. What is the reason for this? Of course, from the uncertainty on the labor market: nowadays, an increasingly long and unstable career path is becoming the norm. The young often change their place of work, in addition, they do not know their rights, their wages are unfairly underestimated. They are in a precarious position and are not inclined to form unions or join those that already exist. You could say that we do what is lacking in the education system - we educate about trade unions, but we also help our members set up workplace organizations in their workplace, as was the case, for example, at Pyszne.pl. I wanted a social activity that would have a direct impact on the working and living conditions of young people.

In addition, I have also become active for women's rights in the Women's Strike Council, among others. I wish, sincerely, that it was no longer necessary to take action to combat the wage gap, to keep talking about the overburdening of women with unpaid reproductive work, or to argue for the need for menstrual leave. I would like to live in a world where women would have the freedom to express themselves on their own terms. For this to happen, young women are needed, and they should not be afraid to speak out in public, which is why I supported the Defend the Defenders campaign. There was a moment when I faced regular death threats. I was also wished rape by email, and my family was threatened. Under the defamatory articles on state television about my statements on women's rights, there were a mass of comments containing criminal threats. All these experiences mobilize me to continue my involvement in this sphere of activity.

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Fundacja ważne sprawy

KRS 0000826435
NIP 6852339672
REGON 385541134
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