1. SOCIAL DIALOGUE IN EDUCATION Monika Kończyk National Section of Education NSZZ Solidarnosc

2. DEFINITION Social dialogue is defined by the International Labour Office to include all types of negotiation, consultation or simply exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. Social dialogue is the ILO’s best mechanism in promoting better living and working conditions as well as social justice. It is an instrument, a tool of good governance in various areas and its relevance is not just related to the process of globalization but in general to any effort to make the economy more performing and more competitive and to make society in general more stable and more equitable.

3. POLISH LAW – BASIC DOCUMENTS ● The Act on the Tripartite Commission for Socio - Economic issues and provincial social dialogue committees, ● Labour Code ● The Act on Trade Unions ● The Act on Employers' organisations ● The Act on Collective Disputes ● The Act on Informing and Consultations with emplees

4. Trade unions – the meaning ● Trade unions are voluntary and self-governing workers' organizations established to represent and defend their rights, professional and social interests. ● They are independent in their statutory activities of employers, the state and local government and other organizations. ● The Act on Trade unions (1991 with the later changes)

5. The role of Trade Unions Their primary tasks include participation in the creation of favorable working conditions, living and leisure. In the aspect of the rights and collective interests TU represent all workers regardless of their membership. However, in individual cases of labor relations TU represent the rights and interests of the members. At the request of the unaffiliated employee they can also be taken to defend the rights and interests in front of the employer (Article 7 paragraph. 2).

6. The role of Solidarnosc Education sector TU represents the teachers in front of all authorities, At the national level: To fight for wages and working conditions of Polish teachers, To take part in negotiations/ common bargaining, To co-create and express our opinions on all educational documents/ bills, At the local level- To negotiate allowances/ bonuses, motivating supplements, executive rewards. To pass the judgement on regulations. to part in the promotion of teachers and competitive commissions for school’s managers.

7. Activities at national level The participation in meetings at the Ministry of Education – negotians, discussions. The systematic involvement of members of the Executive Board in the meetings with the parliamentary Commission of Education, Science and Youth as well as Commission of Local Government and Regional Policy. The meetings focused on the changes in educational law. The systematic involvement of members of executive board in working groups at ministry level e.g. working time.

8. Activities at local level Regular meetings with the local authorities- negatiations on woking conditions and collective barganing. Giving opinions on educational documents created by local authorities which regulate the functioning of schools such as; the organisational school sheets (They show the number of empleeys and managers in school, the number of teaching hours), the proposal of closing the school. The representatives of TU take part in the competition for school managers and in the commeetee that awards the teachers.

9. Local negotiations Art. 30 paragraph 6 of Teachers Charter - local governments that running the schools have to create special by- laws that regulates: ● The rates of bonuses such as; seniority, motivation and functional, and for working conditions and the specific conditions for the granting of these bonues, ● The detailed terms and conditions of calculation and payment of wages for overtime and hours emergency replacements, ● The amount and terms of payment of awards and other benefits arising from the employment relationship, excluding the benefits of the social fund and social allowances referred to in Article. 54 of the Teachers' Charter.

10. Resent Problems On 8 th of June 2013 at the building of the Ministry of Education in Warsaw held an extraordinary meeting of the Council SKOiW "Solidarity" was held. The meeting was combined with a unique picket. "Solidarity" educational demanded, among other things: a. more funding for public education, b. suspend any works on the changes in the Teachers' Charter, c. some compensation for curriculum reform, d. stop closing down the schools and no more teachers' dismissal, e. the restoration of the teachers' rights to early retirement age,

11. Teachers' Charter This is the Act that regulates all issues related to the teachers. Now The Government wants to change it – especially: working time, employment forms, the sabbatical leaves for teachers. The report IBE 'working time and working conditions of teachers was released in 2013. It turned out that an average teacher works 47,5 hour per week.(excluding the breaks).

12. OUR PROTESTS On 12 and 14th of September huge demonstrations took place in front of the Ministry of Education and Parlament. Once again Solidarity shows the problems faced by Polish education. Ten “sins” of Ministry of Education were presented: - harmful changes in the curriculum, - closing down schools. The privatization of education, - lack of real social dialogue, - mass layoffs, - lowering the quality of education, - underfunding of education, - getting rid of state responsibility for education, - obligatory sending 6-year-olds to unprepared schools, - expensive textbooks, - Refraining from historical and patriotic education.

13. ACTIONS The implementation of a wide information campaign on unfavorable changes for teachers and changes that may reduce the quality of education in Poland. After receiving the draft guidelines for a draft law amending Teachers' Charter and other acts Solidarność prepared the presentations and leaflets. Additionally, the substantive opinion was sent to the Ministry of Education. At the end of September 2013 SKOiW "Solidarity" received a draft version of the bill -Teachers' Charter and other laws. In October the opinion was sent to the Ministry. The “Solidarity started the action so as to defend the teachers' rights and quality education at the national and regional level. KSOi W NSZZ Solidarnosc wrote a letter to Ms Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, the new Minister of Education, in order to start the discussion, in the line with the principles of social dialog, about the Polish education.