Krajowej Sekcji
NSZZ "Solidarność"
Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Solidarność
PAN
2003
Edytorzy: Jerzy Mazierski, Wojciech Nasalski
SPIS TREŚCI
(CONTENTS)
J. Mazierski;
Wprowadzenie (Preface)
W. Nasalski;
Polish Academy of Sciences in the perspective of the Trade Union NSZZ Solidarność
W. Nasalski;
Perspectives for negotiation of collective agreements in research institutions
K. Woźniak;
Negotiations in research units of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow
Jerzy Mazierski, Waldemar Krajewski;
Functioning of the institutions of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Upper Silesia
Elżbieta Król;
Collective agreement negotiations
W. Krajewski;
Report from Upper Silesia
(Preface)
Jerzy Mazierski
National Section NSZZ Solidarność Polish Academy of Sciences
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
Between October 4th and 7th, the delegation of the National Section of Solidarity Trade Union took part in a conference in Budapest, devoted to cooperation between union organizations of institutes of the Academy of Science. The subject of the conference were "Special aspects of social dialogue in the research institutes in the countries of the Visegrad group".
The conference was attended by delegations of representatives of union organizations from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. The conference was hosted by our colleagues from the Hungarian trade union of research workers TUDOSZ. Tomasz Wójcik, representative of the office of the International Labour Organization, also participated in works of the conference. Wojciech Nasalski managed work of our delegation, consisting also of Elżbieta Król (IGF-PAN Warsaw), Urszula Korzeniak (IB-PAN-Cracow) and Jerzy Mazierski (IPIS-PAN Zabrze).
During the solemn opening of the conference, speeches were delivered by Dimitrina Dimitrova of the Budapest office of the International Labour Organization, Laszlo Vigh of the Hungarian Confederation of Professionals (ESZT) and Laszlo Kuti of the Trade Union of Research Workers TUDOSZ. Afterwards, Tomasz Wójcik (ILO) presented a paper on the issues of trade union activitty within research and development units. The first plenary session of the conference was chaired by the spokesman of the TUDOSZ Trade Union, Attila Toth.
After lunch, chairmen of delegations familiarized those present with the tasks of trade union organizations in their countries and difficulties associated with systemic transformation. The history of Solidarity Trade Union was presented and the organization of research units of the Polish Academy of Sciences was described by Wojciech Nasalski. The presentations indicated that despite varying regulations in individual countries, many issues seem to be shared, particularly in the area of low budgets for education, low wages in the sector and the diminishing role of trade unions within research institutions. The trade union representatives from Hungary were proud to emphasize that they managed to equalize wages at the research units of the Academy with those at universities and colleges. However, they underlined that it would be very difficult to achieve their next objective, that is, to raise the wages to the level of the European Union countries due to a dramatic decrease of the number of trade union members of the TUDOSZ Trade Union. Ludmila Slovakova of Slovakia pointed to a very low budget for education, reaching the level of 0.36% GDP.
During the second day of the conference, the participants listened with great interest to the speech of the ILO representative Youcef Gellab, devoted to social dialogue in the public sector. Further proceedings were dominated by presentations of the members of our group. After a short introduction, presented by Wojciech Nasalski, the members of the delegation delivered their speeches. Basing upon a paper by the Chairman of the Enterprise Commission in Cracow, Kazimierz Wozniak, Urszula Korzeniak presented the activity of units of the Polish Academy of Science in Cracow. Jerzy Mazierski of Zabrze presented the difficult situation of the PAS units in Upper Silesia, taking into account also the report by Waldemar Krajewski of Gliwice. Elzbieta Krol compared the economic and social situation of research institutes in Warsaw - the State Institute of Geology and the PAS Institute of Geophysics. She pointed out some significant differences in situation of employees of various units depending upon the financing method.
At the end of the conference, all participants expressed their will to continue the meetings of trade union representatives from the Visegrad countries. The next conference is to be held either in Bratislava, Prague or Warsaw. The chairmen of all delegations signed a Declaration of Cooperation.
After discussing all important issues, pointing out problems and signing documents, we were able to gather together all of the most important and important papers, put them in a briefcase and, finally, celebrate together the success of the Conference.
W dniach od 4 do 7 października delegacja Krajowej Sekcji NSZZ „Solidarność" wzięła udział w konferencji w Budapeszcie poświęconej współpracy organizacji związkowych Instytutów Akademii Nauk. Tematem konferencji były „Specjalne aspekty dialogu społecznego w instytutach badawczych krajów czworokąta wyszechradzkiego" .
W konferencji udział wzięły delegacje reprezentujące organizacje związkowe ze Słowacji, Węgier i Polski. W roli gospodarzy wystąpili koledzy z węgierskiego związku zawodowego pracowników naukowych TUDOSZ. W pracach konferencji uczestniczył również kol.Tomasz Wójcik reprezentujący biuro Międzynarodowej Organizacji Pracy (ILO) w Genewie.
Pracami naszej delegacji kierował kolega Wojciech Nasalski, któremu towarzyszyły koleżanki Elżbieta Król (IGF-PAN Warszawa), Urszula Korzeniak (IB-PAN-Kraków) oraz kolega Jerzy Mazierski (IPIŚ-PAN Zabrze).
Otwarcie konferencji
Po lunchu przewodniczący poszczególnych delegacji zapoznali zebranych z zadaniami organizacji związkowych w swoich krajach oraz z trudnościami jakie występują w związku z transformacją ustrojową.
Pierwszą sesję plenarną konferencji poprowadził
rzecznik Związku Zawodowego TUDOSZ Attila Toth.
Na zakończenie konferencji wszyscy uczestnicy zgodnie potwierdzili wole kontynuowania spotkań związkowców krajów czworokąta wyszechradzkego. Jako miejsce następnej konferencji zaproponowano jedno z miast: Bratysławę, Pragę lub Warszawę. Przewodniczący delegacji podpisali Deklarację Współpracy.
I gdy już wszystkie ważne problemy zostały poruszone, zagadnienia omówione i dokumenty podpisane
można było bardzo ważne i ważne papiery zebrać razem, schować do teczki
i wspólnie uczcić sukces kończącej się konferencji.
udostępnione dzięki uprzejmości kol. Tomasza Wójcika.
Jerzy Mazierski
Institute for the Basics of Environment Engineering
Polish Academy of Sciences, Zabrze
in the perspective of the Trade Union NSZZ Solidarność
Wojciech Nasalski
National Section NSZZ Solidarność Polish Academy of Sciences
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
Introduction
Trade Union NSZZ Solidarność
Polish Academy of Sciences
Financing of Science in Poland
Introduction
Several months from now, our countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary will become members of the European Union, an economic and political structure that encompasses majority of the most developed countries of our continent. I have mentioned all four of our countries together for a specific reason. We have something more in common than just our location within the geographical centre of Europe. Most of all, we have lived through more than a thousand years of history, which has often been shared by us, here, in the centre of Europe. We are aware of many successes that we celebrated together in the past. We also remember numerous struggles against various adversities, which we also often faced together. In the most recent history of our countries, such dates as 1956, 1968, 1970 are well remembered not only by the Poles. These dates set out the painful stages of the struggle of our societies for democratic order in this part of Europe, and looking back we can say these were simply necessary. The struggle finally bore fruit of creation of the Solidarity Trade Union in 1980, and later, after the following several difficult years, by the beginning of a democratic transformation in our four countries.
We are entering the structures of the European Union with a similar load of historical experiences and with a similar, substantial legacy of our civilisation. Our shared experiences and legacy have resulted in the close cooperation between our four countries within the confines of the Visegrad agreements; the cooperation, which cannot be overestimated, especially during the period of extensive transformation processes in all four countries of the Visegrad group.
The process of transformation of the social, political and economic systems in this part of Europe has been largely dependent upon the condition of science in our countries. The social dimension, that is, speaking outright, the more humane and less liberal dimension of this transformation, requires active participation of trade unions and non-governmental organizations in this process. I understand that these are the basic premises that have led to our meeting here today, which undoubtedly will prove to be extremely beneficial.
A great number of issues are planned to be discussed during our seminar. It would be very difficult to present the main aspects of these even briefly within a single elaboration. Therefore, I will limit myself to presenting only the basic data illustrating the condition of science in Poland, in particular, the part of it, that is represented by the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS or originally PAN). I will also attempt to describe the role played by the Solidarity Trade Union in the transformation of science in Poland. I will focus mainly upon the methods of operation of the nation-wide branch structure of our Union, which brings together the Solidarity members - employees of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Trade Union NSZZ Solidarność
The Trade Union NSZZ Solidarność (Solidarity) operates on a national scale within two parallel structures - in accordance with regions and in accordance with branches. One of them is a regional structure, based upon sixteen regions, which take up the whole area of our country. This structure was particularly useful in the eighties of the twentieth century, when our Union was forced to struggle for systemic changes on a national scale. The regional structure is still decisive for the strength of our Union; it is particularly useful during negotiations at the national level and with regard to issues that pertain to entire regions. It also allows, when needed, for efficient organization of a general strike, as well as other union activities on a national scale.
The other is the branch structure, which consists of a few dozen of national sections, grouped within sixteen branch secretariats that are directly subordinate to the National Commission of our Union. The branch structure of Solidarity at the Polish Academy of Sciences was established in 1980 and until today it participates actively in the complicated process of transformation of Polish science. It was here that the concept of establishment of a Committee for Scientific Research arose, which in the nineties took over the tasks of the former Ministry of Science and Technology.
The National Section of the Solidarity Trade Union of the Polish Academy of Sciences was established by resolution of the Founding General Assembly of Delegates of Solidarity of PAN units on August 21st, 2000. It carried on the activity of our Union within the PAN units since the establishment of the Solidarity Trade Union in 1980. In 1981, a Nationwide Negotiation Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union at PAN was established. After delegalization of the Union in 1981, it was replaced by an Agreement of Enterprise Commissions of Solidarity Trade Union at PAN units. In years 1988-2000, its role was taken over in turn by: Nationwide Negotiation Commission of Solidarity Trade Union, and then the Inter-Enterprise Coordination Commission - the Nationwide Negotiation Commission of the Solidarity Trade Union of PAN. On June 21st, 2000, the General Assembly of Delegates of Solidarity Trade Union of PAN units appointed the National Section of the Solidarity Trade Union at PAN. On August 21st, 2000, the National Commission of Solidarity Trade Union registered our Section as an independent countrywide branch section of the Union.
This short note, which can be found on our Web page, talks about the evolution of organizational forms during the last 20 years, which I am not going to comment upon further now. Finally, in year 2000, the National Commission of Solidarity registered our structure as an independent, countrywide branch section of the Union. At present, the National Section of Solidarity PAN is now active as a branch section of the Union within the confines of the Secretariat of Science and Education of the National Commission, which associates, apart from us, elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as college and university teachers, employees of the State Archives and the Committee for Tourism and Sport.
The section encompasses Trade Union Commissions acting in most PAN research sites. The members of our Union make up 25% of all PAN employees; most of them are research workers at PAN institutes. The methods of activity of our Section are determined by the organizational structure of the network of PAN units - institutes. The institutes are to a large extent independent of the PAN authorities. They are supported financially in 80% from a different source - by the Ministry of Science and Information Technology. This issue will be discussed further later on.
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences is a state scientific institution acting through an elected corporation of scholars and its scientific establishments. Created in 1952, it continues and cultivates the traditions of Poland's scientific institutions and scientific societies originated in eighteen century in Poland. There are two components of the PAN - a corporation of scholars and a research centre of PAN.
Polish Academy of Sciences as a corporation of scholars
The corporate structure of the Academy comprises divisions, territorial branches, as well as scientific and task force committees. The whole structure is governed by the General Assembly of the Academy, together with its presidium composed of the President of PAN, three Vicepresidents of the Academy, the seven division chairmen, the Presidents of the territorial branches and 14 members elected by the corporation.
The Academy is composed of domestic members - both full and corresponding and foreign members. At the end of 2000 PAN numbered 326 national members and 225 foreign members. Members are elected by the General Assembly. Each member of the Academy is a member of one Division, according to his or her scientific discipline.
The seven divisions of the Academy are:
Division I - Social Sciences (16),
Division II - Biological Sciences (17),
Division III - Mathematical, Physical, and Chemical Sciences (17),
Division IV - Technical Sciences (9),
Division V - Agricultural, Forestry, and Veternitary Sciences (8),
Division VI - Medical Sciences (5),
Division VII - Earth and Mining Sciences (8).
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of units in each Division. The highest numbers of members are in Div. III (Mathematical, Physical, and Chemical Sciences), Div. IV (Technical Sciences) and Div. I (Social Sciences).
There are seven territorial branches of the Academy - in Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, and Wrocław. They are operated to perform the Academy's tasks in specific regions of the country. They integrate the scientific communities and act as representatives of PAN towards state territorial government and administrative organs as well as local social organizations.
The scientific and task force committees of PAN represent a form of self-organization within academia. As cadres having the highest scientific standing, the committees are acting in the field of diagnosis, prognosis scientific problems and economic phenomena. The network of scientific and task force committees comprised 110 units at the end of 2000. Among the members of the committees 18.2% are employees of PAN, 68.2% are employees of colleges and universities and 13.6% are employees of economic and other institutions.
The Trade Union NSZZ Solidarnoś? sustains rich direct contacts with the authorities of PAN. As guests of the President of PAN we continuously attend the Sessions of the General Assembly of PAN. Still our organizational structure is placed and is acting within the second component of PAN - a Research Centre of PAN.
Polish Academy of Sciences as a Research Centre
The research centre comprises of 80 scientific units employing over 9000 people. Sixty-nine of the PAN institutes (86%) were rated in the highest two of the five categories. In regard to other units, corrective measures have already been taken, as most of them perform important public and cultural functions. Total number of the scientific workers in research units of PAN equals almost 4000 people, most of them working in Mathematical, Physical, and Chemical Sciences (24.3% of the total number), Social Sciences (19.1%), Biological Sciences (17.9%) and in Technical Sciences (13.8%).
The research conducted by the Academy is primarily concentrated in the statutory range of the PAN institutes. However a wide range of domestic research projects is carried out simultaneously - grants, target projects, commissioned projects. In total there were 1833 domestic grants and 229 foreign grants in 2001. PAN institutes take part in international programs of the 5th and 6th Framework of the EU, PHARE-SCI-TECH, NATO programs, Maria-Skl odowska-Curie Fund, UNESCO projects, COST, INCO-COPERNICUS and many others. Two hundred and fifty-one such projects were carried out in 2000. PAN scientific units publish together over 13.000 scientific papers and issue almost 500 periodicals annually.
Educational activity is treated in PAN as an important element of the scientific activity. More than 800 postgraduate students are working for their PhD in the PAN institutes. Among them 182 received the PhD degree in 2001. Over 1300 PAN employees are engaged in teaching at colleges and universities, 10.000 students are taught in the 16 private schools existing within the network of PAN institutes.
Let me also outline in a few words a structure of one institute of PAN. I take as an example the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research PAN, situated in the centre of Warsaw. The institute, with its staff of about 156 highly qualified researches, of whom 32 are full professors, 23 associate professors and 101 senior researches with the Ph.D. degree, is one of the biggest research institutions within the structure of the PAN. The basic disciplines at the institute are theoretical, experimental and computational research in mechanics of materials, structure and fluids, acoustoelectronics, medical ultrasound, physics of continuos media and polymers, electromagnetics, applied information sciences, ecologically oriented structural engineering and many other topics.
In the Institute there are four centres of excellence: for Advanced Materials and Structures, for Safety-Critical Pressure Systems, for Applied Biomedical Modelling and Diagnostics and for Laser Processing and Material Advanced Testing. The National Contact Point for 5th and 6th Framework Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration of the EU is also situated here. During thirty years of the Institute's history over 570 Ph.D. degrees have been granted to Polish and foreign researches. Six regular journals (in English) are published at the Institute. The organization of the Institute is typical to such scientific institutions in Europe.
For the present period of science development in Poland, PAN scientific units will remain in the sphere of budgetary financing - 88% of their financial sources are provided directly by the Polish Government. Due to the budgetary restrictions in this respect, Polish scientists have to convince decision-makers to draw on the results of scientific research and to provide material support for science. The very modest budgetary financing still remains the main obstacle in a future development of Polish science.
Financing of science in Poland
Financing of scientific activity in Poland is a very broad topic and it is not possible to provide an exhaustive commentary for this issue within a single presentation. Therefore, I will limit myself to presenting the basic facts, which, I believe, will be sufficient to illustrate the scale of problems that with in Poland in this regard.
In Poland, scientific work is carried out within the confines of several segments, that is:
- The Polish Academy of Sciences
- Colleges and universities
- Research and development units
- Industry
Although no substantial disproportion can be observed with regard to financial contribution of individual segments (they are of the same level), it has to be noted that the situation of PAN is unique, since, unlike the other segments, is financed basically by only one source, that is, by the Ministry of Science and Information Technology. As for colleges and universities, teaching and general costs are financed by the Ministry of Education and Sport. Research and development units receive subsidies by adequate resorts of industry. Therefore, unlike PAN, the activity of other segments is financed from many sources.
Thus the financial condition of the PAN units is largely dependent upon the budget funds that are at the disposal of the Ministry of Science and Information Technology. These funds have been decreasing every year to an alarmingly low level; from 0.76% of GDP in 1991 to 0.35% in 2002 (PLN 2 661 million, that is, approximately USD 665 million). Non-budget means are also not sufficient, although a relatively constant low level of about 0.30% has been maintained in this regard.
The dramatic situation is illustrated even more clearly by the chart of global expenditures for R&D in years 1974-1999. In the seventies, and even at the end of the nineties, global expenditures for R&D were equal approximately to 1.4% of GDP, while at the end of the nineties they decreased unexpectedly, amounting to less than 0.8% GDP.
Thus the period of transformation in Poland, which begun in year 1989, initiated a substantial decrease in expenditures for science. Partially, this process was due to a difficult economic situation of the country - a significant decrease of industrial production in Poland at the beginning of the nineties, small share of high-tech products and innovative products in the global industrial production, big external and internal state debt, quickly increasing unemployment rate (up to 18% this year) etc.
Although we have observed an increase of GDP in Poland for several years, and this year it even exceeded 3.5%, although inflation has been lowered down - less than 1% this year, expenditures for scientific work are not increasing and have been maintained at the level below 0.7% GDP. However, the Agenda of Nice of year 2000, which has been accepted by Poland, assumes the average increase of expenditures for scientific work in the EU up to the level of 3% of GDP in year 2010. It is very difficult to see how this postulate could be accomplished by Poland in such a short time.
The scale of the problem is also illustrated by comparison of these expenditures in Poland with similar expenditures in other countries of Europe. Their percentage share in GDP in Poland is about five times lower than in such countries as Sweden, Finland or Switzerland, while our national income per capita is much lower. It is much lower than in the Czech republic (1.3%), although comparable to that of Hungary (0.6%). Thus substantial differences with regard to financing scientific work can be observed even among our countries.
The situation seems to be even more dramatic, if we compare the R&D expenditures per capita. In Poland, for instance, it is fourteen times lower than in the European Union. With regard to these statistical data, the Czech Republic also has three times higher expenditures than Poland. The expenditures for R&D per researcher are even lower. In this regard, Poland is unquestionably an outsider in Europe.
Such low budget for scientific work is also reflected by other parameters. For instance, an average monthly remuneration of an assistant in Poland is approximately equal to the national average - about EUR 500, average remuneration of a professor is only about EUR 1300, while the costs of living are only slightly lower than in the EU.
Nevertheless, we can state that science in Poland still exists. Although in absolute numbers, the expenditures for R&D in Poland amounted to less than 1% of expenditures in USA or 5% of those in Germany, they still make up 65% of expenditures of Austria, 87% of those in Denmark, 212% of those in Portugal or 313% of expenditures in Hungary. However, these more optimistic data are associated with a substantial population potential of our country.
On the other hand, the percentage share of Poland in the gross domestic product of OECD countries amounts to 1.3%, while the percentage share of expenditures for science in Poland make up 0.44% of those in the OECD countries. So far, the economic growth has not resulted in increased expenditures for science. Neither the economic revival in years 1992-1994, nor the fast pace of growth of GDP (6%-7%) in years 1995-1997 have resulted in higher expenditures for science. It is quite the opposite. The correlation here is definitely a negative one.
It is necessary to find the means for development of science in Poland. A significant fact is the still small, but increasing share of foreign capital-based companies in research and development works conducted in Poland. In years 1995-1999, it increased by 2% to approximately 20%. If we exclude research conducted outside these companies (within research and development units), it turns out that the share of internal research conducted by companies has increased from 6% to 40% and it will probably still be increasing. Of course, it is reasonable to expect this share to start increasing also in absolute numbers, as it happens in other countries.
Thus, it can be stated more optimistically that there are some reserves for financing of science in Poland. However, in order to be able to take advantage of these, the Polish political and economic decidents should finally take note of the fact that in the technologically advanced world, it is not necessary to only spend extra money for scientific research. It is possible to make money on science, provided that one invests a little bit more money in it first. In this way, it is also possible to invest in education at the some time. In years 1990-2003, the number of students of private and state colleges and universities in Poland increased several times.
What is the role of trade unions, and, in particular, the representation of Solidarity in PAN in this situation? It is difficult to give a clear-cut answer to this question.
The financial budget for science in Poland depends upon the planned state budget for consecutive years. The issues of the planned state budget for the following year, especially the controversial ones, are negotiated every year within the confines of the Tripartite Commission, which encompasses the representatives of the Government of the Republic of Poland, trade unions and organizations of employers. The state budget project is then discussed during the meetings of adequate commissions in the Parliament of the Republic of Poland. We participate in these meetings every year as the representatives of the trade union. However, we are in position to provide only advice and opinions.
Yet in order to provide adequate financing for scientific work, additional money, amounting to hundreds of millions of Euro are needed every year from our state budget, which is still unable to afford such sums. It is a matter of a long-term policy not only with regard to science, but also an economic and social policy. It is a matter of political will of the Polish decision-makers. At this moment, we can only express our hope that the process of our integration with the EU, which has been substantially accelerated, is going to convince our decision-makers of great importance of modern science and technology in the social and economic development of our country.
The last two chapters of this article were elaborated on the grounds of official documents of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Scientific Research and Information Technology in Poland.
Wojciech Nasalski
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research
Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
in research institutions
Wojciech Nasalski
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
The subject of our discussion - collective negotiations at research institutes - may seem at first sight to be some kind of an interesting intellectual provocation. It is true that the character of scientific work and organization of a typical research institute are not consistent, and not only in Poland, with the common idea of collective negotiations of work conditions. Every researcher knows that the effectiveness of his or her work is largely dependent upon his or her working conditions, which are to be provided by the employer. Every employer in the area of scientific work seems to share this view, at least to some extent.
However, problems arise, when, for instance, the employer does not dispose of sufficient means to meet the reasonable demands of the employee. Or, which is even worse, when our researcher has more than one employer, let's say, two of them, one of which carries out management-related tasks and the other distributes financial means that are necessary for management. At present, we are dealing with such twofold management structure within the network of the PAN research units.
The PAN institutes are largely financed by the Ministry of Science and Information Technology and managed by institute directors. The directors are appointed by the President of PAS, who also supervises the appropriate functioning of these units. However, the President does not distribute financial means necessary for the functioning of the managed units. These are distributed by the Minister of Science and Information Technology. Thus the PAN institutes are largely independent within such system, and the managing directors are able to manage the subordinate units quite freely.
This situation is complicated even more by the fact that the budget expenditures for science - which are very low right now - are allocated not by the Minister of Science and Information Technology, but by the Minister of Finance. The Polish Parliament rarely takes advantage of its rights in this regard. To tell the truth, I have never heard of any case when the Polish Parliament would vote for any significant correction in the propositions for the section of science in the annual state budget, propositions that are presented annually for discussion in the Polish Parliament by the Ministry of Finance.
In this situation, a trade union is not able to act the same as in the case of other sectors, at least in matters associated with possible negotiations of supra-enterprise agreements. Nevertheless, we intervene whenever it is necessary, if only there is a chance for a positive outcome. Thus our activities are not standard, which is understandable, and their type depends upon many factors that change over time.
In order to describe more clearly the situation of PAN in this regard, we would like to present three short reports within the confines of this presentation. The first report describes the methods of operation of our regional union trade structure in the former capital of Poland - Cracow and the problems that it faces every day. The second report pertains to similar problems that are experienced by our regional structures in the region of Silesia, with its numerous mines, steelworks, and, unfortunately, environmental pollution. At the end, we would like to provide an example of a collective agreement of one of the Polish scientific institutes, which is not part of PAN research structure. At the Polish Academy of Science, no collective agreement has been negotiated so far.
Wojciech Nasalski
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research
Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow
Kazimierz Woźniak
National Section NSZZ Solidarność Polish Academy of Sciences
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
The statutes of the Solidarity Union at that time allowed for putting together in a single Enterprise Commission of such diversified units, operating within the confines of a superior institution of the employer, that is, at the time, the Division of the Polish Academy of Science in Cracow, which brought them together under a single name, providing patronage as an institution. And all of these units, organized within the union, were located within a single region of Małopolska.
The units, in which we operated, included both independent scientific units in Cracow and non-independent units, such as divisions, institutes or laboratories of several PAS institutes, while their management was seated in Warsaw.
The Enterprise Commission of PAS Solidarity, created in such a way, operated in 16 institutions in Cracow, in which - in accordance with the Statutes and the Union Structure - Solidarity Circles were established. Such model of functioning has been maintained until today despite the fact that substantial changes have been introduced both in the Union Statutes and the structure, organization and tasks of the Polish Academy of Science.
Firstly: Today (that is, after 25 years), the Statutes of the Solidarity Trade Union allows for existence of only one union organization at the abode of the employer, which automatically makes it impossible for its divisions, located elsewhere, to be included in the union structures within the same branch, but in a different place (city), and especially in a different region. The changes in the statutes allow also for transformation of the former structures of this type like ours into inter-enterprise commissions of a slightly different status in the region than the enterprise commissions.
Secondly: after the new Act on PAS came into force, the former relations and links between the Divisions of PAS and individual institutes have changed. The institutes were granted legal personality and thus became independent enterprises, in which responsibility and practically full power belongs to the managers. Moreover, the institutes of the Polish Academy of Science is no longer financed by the state budget through the central PAS authorities. Some time earlier, a Scientific Research Committee was established, which was entrusted with distribution of the state funds for science in Poland as a whole, including the scientific work of the PAS institutes. At present, this role is played by the Ministry of Science and Information Technology, established this year.
The Field Divisions of PAS are thus no longer, according to the law, superior to institutes and independent units (employers in a general sense of the world), which could substantially influence (as it used to be) their activity, financing and thus their future.
The above description was aimed at explaining and showing, why and to what extent the general situation and role of the enterprise commissions, operating within the institutes of the Polish Academy of Science has changed and, more importantly, why maintaining of the former structure of our Enterprise Commission in Cracow is so important for the local union activity and tasks undertaken on behalf of the whole environment of employees of the PAS institutes in Cracow, and, at the same time, in the name of our members, who work for them.
I would like to add one more remark: Within the confines of the branch structure, our Commission operates as one of many associated in the National Section of PAS Solidarity, which, in turn, as one of the agencies belongs to the Secretariat of Science and Education in the National Commission of Solidarity Trade Union. On the other hand, within the confines of the regional structures, we belong to the region of Małopolska.
It has to be emphasized that at present, we perform the functions of the Inter-Enterprise Commission, because our members are employees of various independent employers, but originally (when established), we were an Enterprise Commission operating at the institution of the employer known as the Polish Academy of Science.
Therefore, in our activity as an Enterprise Commission, good work of the Commission of Solidarity Circles in individual institutes, units and divisions is of key importance. These circles are entitled by us within their units to, among other things, supervise the remuneration issues, to make decisions regarding distribution of the social funds, to participate in the meetings of the management and to perform other tasks of the union within their respective areas. On the other hand, the Enterprise Commission unites and coordinates the work of the Circles and acts as a representative of all members in the contacts with the regional authorities of the union, with units that are superior to them within the branch structure, as well as with managers of institutes with regard to more serious or difficult issues, associated with the Act on Trade Unions or the Labour Code, such as dismissals or unlawful actions. Moreover, we provide opinions and serve as negotiators, often in matters that concern employees, who are not members of our union.
In cases, when circumstances are favourable for managers (who have full authority) to act unlawfully or to violate the interests of employees or units, it proves to be a great advantage that our Commission is not in any way influenced by the management of any of the units, and our interventions usually prove efficient, especially with regard to small units, where the number of members of the Union is small.
Throughout the last several years, after the changes in the PAS structure, we participated in several cases, which pertained to all employees of PAS institutes, and since in Cracow we were the only ones (as the only trade union active within PAS) entitled to represent their interests as a union, we fulfilled our obligation, stated in the statutes, acting in matters that were important for them.
Such position of our Enterprise Commission provides us with favourable conditions for action and at the same time makes us responsible for integration of the environment in various areas.
In relations with the Circle Commissions, which belong to our Enterprise Commission, apart from normal contacts at work during weekly meetings, we established many years ago a Local Commission, which serves as an advisor, asked for opinion and advise in case of difficult and important matters.
In our relations with employers, we have a great opportunity for communication thanks to participation in the meetings of the Board of Directors of PAS Units. Thanks to this fact, we are familiar with the current plans, decisions, opinions of this body with regard to various matters, which are important both for the environment and for science in general.
Our relations with the Presidium of the Division of PAS in Cracow are also good. We can present our postulates in matters that are important for the environment and count on support when solving them. One example is the issue of availability of healthcare at scientific institutions and its functioning in a proper way during the reorganization stage. As a result of actions undertaken together with the Division of PAS and the Board of Directors of PAS Units, methods and conditions of rendering medical services that had been available earlier were worked out.
Also within the confines of cooperation with the Division, we take care of social distribution of rooms for young employees of PAN units at the hotel for assistants.
The activities of the Chairman of the Division are also of great importance, since he has offered extensive institutional support to the managers of the Cracow units in the area of obtaining funds from the European Union within the confines of various research and development programs, available both in the sphere of science and through the administrative structures of our region. This will allow for creation of networks of institutes and researchers for realization of research programs together, which will result in obtaining the necessary funds for the functioning of the units.
Examples of integrating role of our Commision include also:
Patronage of activity of the Employee Social Allowance and Benefit Fund, acting together for a dozen or so Cracow PAS units.
One of our standard tasks is to make sure that safety and hygiene at work rules are followed within units.
During the recent years, due to changes in the provisions, the remuneration of non-research workers hired at the units has been decreased to the amount of 80% of basic remuneration. For several years, we tried to convince authorities of various levels, including adequate ministers, to change this provision, which was unfavourable for some workers. Finally, we achieved a positive result and most managers of the Cracow units agreed to provide 100% of remuneration for sickness leaves for all of their employees.
In the current year, due to changes in the Labour Code, employers have the right to refrain from paying remuneration for the first day of sickness leave shorter than 6 days. Being aware of the fact that the provision forces the employees in a way to go on sickness leave for 7 days, and, as a result, both the employee and the employer loses (work is not done), we came up with a proposal to the employers not to apply this provision and keep paying for the first day of the sickness leave, thanks to which leaves are going to be shorter. This brought a positive result.
The newest and a very typical example of our activities in the environment is participation in the process of consolidation of two units in Cracow, which means that a weaker and smaller unit is taken over by a larger one, occupying a higher place in the ranking. In this case, we had addressed the authorities of scientific institutions of various levels in order to initiate a reform and to avoid liquidation of the unit. At the same time, financing of the unit kept decreasing every year, and, as a result, its position in the rankings of the Committee of Scientific Research was getting lower. Liquidation seemed inevitable. However, this year we finally managed to obtain the consent of the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Science for taking over of the unit by one of Cracow institutes, belonging to the same department. Usually, in such cases the restructuring processes result in dismissal of many employees. However, in this case, thanks to the stance of management of both units (the taken and the taking over ones) and our participation, it was possible to survive this difficult time without violating the law, and at the same time ensuring employment opportunities at the unit taking over for as many people employed previously by the taken over unit as possible. As the Enterprise Commission operating within both these units, we also managed to met the legal requirements specified by the Labour Code and the Law on Trade Unions, that is, we conducted several negotiation meetings and later - after the units obtained warranty for financing - we specified the rules and conditions of taking over of employees and managed to get an adequate tripartite agreement signed.
During the final stage, which is taking place at present, from the point of view of the union, this process can be regarded as a model and exemplary procedure for the potential future consolidation operations with regard to PAS units in the future.
It is also worth noting that at present, within environments like ours, it is objectively difficult to get to the stage of negotiations within the confines of collective agreements, which is mainly due to the insufficient integrating role of the PAS Division and excessive independence of the unit managers.
Komisja Zakładowa NSZZ Solidarność placówek PAN w Krakowie
Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków
of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Upper Silesia
Jerzy Mazierski and Waldemar Krajewski
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
Social and economic transformations which took place after the year 1990 particularly strongly affected the Silesia region with its inhabitants. The coal production drastically dropped, from its initial quantity of 177m tonnes down to 100m tonnes. With a process of liquidation of mines and reduction of employment in the mining industry by about 280 thousand persons the spectre of structural unemployment emerged which in typical mining settlements reached a number of 30%.
Similar crisis also encompassed the ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and other branches of the industry. A tragic situation of the industry affects other branches of economic life.
In 1970s some activities were started in Upper Silesia to form a strong scientific centre being a good basis for the industry. From the initially emerged Scientific Research Centre for Upper-Silesia Industrial Region of PAN (Polish Academy Of Sciences) separate Institutes were isolated out to deal with research in chemistry engineering, automatics and information science, environment engineering, technology of polymers and chemistry of coke.
Social and economic transformations which took place in Poland and in Central Europe entailed changes in functioning PAN institutions (Polish Academy Of Sciences), in that also in institutions functioning in Silesia. Cease of government's programmes with a ranking made to science and research institutions compelled a necessity to adjust Institutes of PAN to conditions of market economy with continuous rivalry of financial assets.
Comparing the situation of PAN institutions with institutes at universities one should state that income on science-research work made by universities is a complementary source of financing whereas a fundamental source is a subsidy from MEN (Ministry of National Education) associated with educational activities. Institutions of PAN must gain financial assets by themselves and they function on rules similar with other economic units.
With a formation of KBN (Committee for Scientific Research) a ranking of all science-research institutions was introduced in Poland qualifying the institutions into one of four groups. A place in the raking depends on the institution scientific degree, measured - among others - with a number of scientific degrees granted, a number of scientific publications , etc. Consequently to the place in the ranking the Government's subsidy size depends on. The second source of financing are individual research projects which are also financed from the Government's assets.
Slender financial assets granted require the institutes qualified to groups II-IV to make continuous efforts in order to reduce functioning expenses and to gain orders for research work from economic and self-governing units.
Methods for reduction of expenses applied by management boards consist mainly in dismissing employees and putting pressure on them to go onto unpaid leaves. However it is to underline that those methods are applied in actually difficult situations with a risk of financial collapse of the institution. Experience of Gliwice's Institutions of PAN with regard to employment streamlining indicate that a radical reduction of administration employees leads to considerable improvement of financial standing of the institutions. The employment of the institutions is maintained at a level determined by a size of the State Budget subsidy. However there are still functioning institutions where employees with scientific degrees make up a half of the total employed persons. It also seems that certain institutions have extensively developed a number of positions for deputy directors (for general or technical affairs) or equivalent to them. However it is to keep in mind that institutions being in hard financial standing do not have financial assets making it possible to reconstruct the employment structure (severance pays).
Such financial standing also compels that a policy of low remuneration is used, salaries for majority of employees are at the lowest level provided by the applicable law for the specific labour group. Consequently an average pay in institutes of the third group (in IPIŚ-PAN) amounts to 75% of the national average.
The second direction is intensifying activities in order to gain orders from economic units. Solving problems associated with the industrial activities is not something new for Silesian Institutions of PAN. In modified conditions a co-operation with the industry comes across great difficulties. Economic units threatened with liquidation or with financial difficulties are not capable to order research subjects. Participation in tenders and tender proceedings compels that low prices are gained for the research work made. Results of tender procedures are uncertain, values of work possible for performance without a tender is limited to EURO 3 000 euro. Income on research work made very frequently does not reimburse costs for its performance. Sporadically difficulties occur execute payments for work made. Among commercial work there is a strong competition from small companies which do not have research and laboratory facilities and which subcontract performing the work which requires such facilities. Very frequently it is an activity made on the brink of law. Great difficulties are also in gaining orders from companies being a property of a foreign capital.
A strong position to be achieved in a field of commercial work requires that serious of organizational changes to be carried out in institutions. A change in the activities direction, limitation of subject matters related with making research work in favour of routine work are also connected with a necessity personnel changes to be made along with a change of apparatus.
The necessary implementation of certification and attestation procedures in laboratories also shall compel a necessity to expend large financial assets with organizational changes introduced.
A share of commercial work in Institutes of PAN in Silesia varies. In some institutes it is rather modest one, in others e.g. in Institute of the Basics of Environment Engineering it reaches up to 47%.
A scientific value of commercial work is usually very low what results in a lower scientific activity with a systematic decrease in scientific publications made. And consequently the downgrading number of publications made causes that a category of the institution is lowered in the ranking finally resulting in a decreased subsidy in the future.
An alarming phenomena related to a very hard financial standing of the institutions is a systematic decrease in a purchase of books and subscription of scientific magazines.
For instance till the year 2000 30 titles of foreign magazines and 15 national magazines were subscribed in the Institute for the Basics of Environment Engineering of PAN. At present only 15 titles of national magazines are subscribed. Drastic limitation and difficulties of employees in contacting the foreign press also affects a decreased degree of work maintained with a smaller number of publications.
The future of institutions of PAN and particularly of those which for many reasons were located in a group of weak institutions is difficult to say because, apart from financial difficulties they are threatened with a prospect of liquidation or reconstruction.
However one should not consider the future of Silesian institutions of PAN without taking into account of today's economic difficulties. Within their twenty years of existence the institutions of PAN gathered a considerable potential of qualified staff and they became to be a significant circle in a scientific map of Silesia. They should play a remarkable role in the required restructuring of the region.
A subject issue for reconstruction of the Silesian industry structure is a new question in Poland, but a question of Silesia is not ended with Olza River, it also relates to Czech Republic and Ostrava region.
A complex programme prepared for restructuring of Silesia and its industry with a significant position of science can decide whether Silesia is to resemble deserted American cities from the gold rush period or it still will play an important role in the economic and scientific map of Poland.
Jerzy Mazierski
Institute for the Basics of Environment Engineering
Polish Academy of Sciences, Zabrze
Waldemar Krajewski
Institute for Chemistry Engineering
Polish Academy of Sciences,Gliwice
Elżbieta Król
National Section NSZZ Solidarność Polish Academy of Sciences
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
EXAMPLES OF COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS AT THE POLISH SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES IN THE CONTEXT OF APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS RESULTING ONLY FROM THE LABOUR CODE AND ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS AT THE INSTITUTES OF THE POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
In the Polish labour legislation, the institution of collective agreements has been present for a long time and it was also functioning during the period of the People's Republic of Poland (in the real socialism).
However, as for scientific institutes, for a long time such agreements have been concluded within the so-called research and development units, (that is, resort institutes associated with various industries in Poland). The postulate for introduction of such agreements within research institutes belonging to the Polish Academy of Science has not been realised so far.
In the past, the fact that resort institutes often concluded collective agreements was based upon additional employee privileges within a given sector. For instance, in the steel industry and mining, there were additional provisions in the so-called Steelworker Card and Miner Card, which also encompassed the employees of scientific institutes, co-operating closely with a given industry. These institutes usually disposed of extensive financial means and therefore they were able to include in their collective agreements special provisions. Such issues as remuneration's and social benefits, were more advantageous than the general payment provisions for other research workers, employed, for instance, by P.A.S. research institutes and universities.
These privileges have often been maintained till now, and even if they have been limited and modified to some extent, they still serve as a basis for renegotiations of collective agreements at resort institutes despite the much changed economic situation and modes of activity available after the systemic transformation in Poland.
In this context, the possibilities of negotiating a collective agreement at the P.A.S scientific institutes, despite lack of formal legal restrictions, are still very limited.
A change of the source of financing for activity of these institutes (from the P.A.S. Head Office to indirect financing) had been introduced around 10 years ago. Means for activity are allocated by the Ministry of Science (Scientific Research Committee), introduced by a legal act at the beginning of the nineties, made the issue of possibility of collective agreements for all PAS research units even more difficult.
The constantly decreasing financial means for scientific work within the last decade in Poland and difficulties in planning of future activity (due to unpredictability of possible short-term changes of working conditions) do not encourage the institute managers or the trade unions operating within units to take up the issue of collective agreements.
Differences that arise from such situation will be discussed by comparing the main conditions of work, remuneration and social issues in an exemplary P.A.S. institute (Earth`s sciences institute) - where only the Labour Code and the corresponding legal acts (as the Act on Trade Unions) are applied - in accordance with conditions similar to those as within the resort institutes, which have had collective agreements for years.
Comparison
The State Geological Institute and the Institute of Industrial Chemistry had been chosen for comparison of detailed regulations of CB in typical research-development units. Their CB is compared with mandatory provisions in the typical scientific institute of Polish Academy of Sciences (Institute of Geophysics).
These research units belong to big and firm units with employment over 600 persons. The Institute of Geophysics of Polish Academy of Sciences with around 200 of employees has the leading position among the other institutes of Earth`s sciences in our Academy and can be treated here as exemplary.
The Independent and Self-Governed Trade Union „ Solidarity" is present in each of exemplary institutes (from 1981) and about 20-25 % of their staff belongs to TU actually.
The collective bargain, which had existed in the both resort research institutes have been renegotiated in early nineteenths, just after the policy transformation in Poland, to adapt to changing economic conditions and to conform to new law prescriptions (such as the new Labour Code and accompanied acts). The CB does not exists in the Institute of Geophysics of P.A.S. ( as in all other academic Institutes) but some privileges done for all institutions of our Academy of Sciences ( such as medical coverage at the own academic clinic, own houses for rccreation during vacation leave, own central School of Foreign Languages) still exist.
Looking carefully the old regulations, negotiated more than 30 - 40 years ago in the CB of research institutes and new rules renegotiated nowadays in often actualised acts (in the form of CB-s) - the observed modification process of them can be characterised in following points:
Almost all basic financial „booties" are preserved. The higher basic salaries and extra-pays, special rewards for successful scientists, higher bonus for long, continuous period of employment, higher jubilee rewards, 13 salary and other, less important provisions should be mentioned as components of positive distinguishing of those research units from the institutes of Academy. The range of mentioned differences is indicated in the Table I.
General regulations of salaries by acts of Ministry of Economy and Labour limits the possibility of more free forming of remuneration in academic institutes. The additional bonus, extra charges to health care, life-insurance, continuation of extra education and different forms of additional social help etc, etc characterise positively the CB acts applied in mentioned units.
The Polish Academy of Sciences has had and have still some forms of central institutions serving for all employees of its institutes (medical care, school of foreign languages) - but that forms of bonus is lastly limited, partly paid and may be even cancelled. Some institutes apply own solutions (i.e. wider range of prophylactic check-up paid by institute) - but it depends on results of negotiated with the TU partial agreements, which can be changed or cancelled in every moment from important economic reasons.
Least, but not last, it should be stressed, that in the CB the forms and way of negotiations between management and TU is clearly described - what undertakes obligations for both sides and can facilitate them.
Conclusions
Exemplary comparison of detailed provisions of collective agreements concluded by to resort institutes - with application only of the mandatory provisions (of the Labour Code, the Act on the Company Social Benefit Fund, the Act on Trade Unions and other normative acts) at one of Polish Academy of Science institutes leads to a conclusion that a collective agreement is a solution that is beneficial both for the employees and management of the research unit. Thanks to conciliation of such agreement, both parties are aware of the range of possibilities in negotiation of additional advantages for employees within the confines of the actual economic situation in a given research and development institute.
The process of negotiation of collective agreement forces the unit management to provide the employees with complete information regarding the financial conditions and details, which may influence further development of such unit. The improvement of working conditions, increase in remuneration and availability of other benefits (such as social benefits) for the employees depends mainly on financial situation! On the other hand, in negotiation of collective agreements, it often turns out that some provisions do not require great financial expenditures. They even may be based solely upon a change in distribution of available funds. It proves that when the management and the trade union do their best to fulfil the needs of the employees, it may result in establishment of specific, clear solutions both in the area of remuneration and social benefits, which will be satisfactory for both parties.
Having all this in mind the TU members in academic instituts in Poland should seriously prepare to future negociation of CB.
Elżbieta Król
Institute of Geophysics
Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Waldemar Krajewski
National Section NSZZ Solidarność Polish Academy of Sciences
Plac Defilad 1, PKiN 2120, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail:
In order to prove scientific activity, which is necessary to obtain financial means from the Committee of Scientific Research, new subjects are being introduced in such a way as to enable quick publishing. Changes in the research topics result in numerous perturbations, associated with construction of the new apparatus and change of specialization of the employees, who deal with the new research areas. At present, as the financial means are scarce, changes in the research profile are more difficult and lead to lowering of the level of scientific activity. A decrease in the number of publications and patents can be observed. It has been observed that the level of categorization obtained by these institutes has decreased in comparison with those units, where the research profile has not changed.
In technological sciences, it is important to obtain patents for the research results. It has been observed that the Polish scientific and technological findings are not subject to adequate patent protection. At present, it seems that the issue is not treated as an important one as it should be, and at the same time the period of patent confirmation has lengthened to even 6 years.
Due to a change in the research profile of the institutes, specialist laboratories are being created, which are entitled to issue expert's reports in accordance with ISO norms. The institutes are now switching to research areas associated with ecology and environmental protection. This is associated with the problems that our country is facing with regard to these fields. Contacts are established with local authorities and self-governments in order to solve these problems. Local authorities often provide financial means for such works. There is a possibility of further development of this field; however, it is necessary to underline that a change of the research field requires financial means and results in a temporary decrease in the effectiveness of scientific research.
At the PAS units, fast ageing of the research staff, administration and research assistants, as well as technical assistants can be observed. This results from an insufficient increase in the number of young staff and the fact that employees, who have reached the retirement age, do not retire. At present, the legal provisions in force and financial abilities do not make it easier to counteract this process.
International cooperation, also with the European Union countries, is now basically limited to participation of employees in meetings and conferences and exchange of scientific and technological thought. Many specialist units have been created in order to facilitate this exchange. However, we still lack the ability to initiate common research projects as a result of these contacts, or to obtain contracts for research work.
Waldemar Krajewski
Institute for Chemistry Engineering
Polish Academy of Sciences,Gliwice