source:http://cia.bzzz.net/two_suicide_attempts_this_month_at_polish_telecom_and_open_letter_from_workers
The wave of suicides at France Telecom last year made headlines around
the world. But in Poland, the suicide attempts of two workers in one
month at TP S.A. (Polish Communications, owned by France Telecom) is
being hushed over, as are complaints by the workers. They have also
written an open letter, again repressed by the mainstream media (but
published here).
[…]
On March 8, a 38-year old woman jumped out of a third floor window
at the Poznan TP S.A. office. Although he broke her spine and sustained
injuries to the brain, she miraculously survived.
The woman had worked an office job at TPSA, but when layoffs were
made, she was offered a new (and worse) position at their call center.
Work at the call center is infamously stressful. Not only because of
the angry clients calling, but also because of the norms and procedures
imposed on the workers by TP S.A. On top of this, there have been
numerous incidents of mobbing. Although unions brought this up as a
major issue, and TP S.A. agreed to take measures to reduce stress
levels in its collective agreement, nothing has been done.
Add to this the fact that TP S.A. is restructuring and recently announced the dismissal of 1900 more workers.
The woman from Poznan was not the only one who could not cope and
tried to send a desperate message to the company. On March 24, a woman
in Szczecin also tried to kill herself on the job, but was saved thanks
to the lightening fast intervention of her colleagues.
In a conversation with workers from the Warsaw office, we found out
that employees are on the edge. After the incident in Poznan, some
small group of concerned workers discussed whether this was also
possible in their office. Since then, they have been vigilantly keeping
their eyes open for signs that somebody might snap.
Problems in TP S.A. are caused not only by uncertainty about jobs.
The atmosphere is like a pressure cooker in many offices and
departments, where employees are driven to be ultra-efficient and work
beyond their capacity.
They are deliberately understaffed, overworked and squeezed. Some
workers are also convinced that such belt-tightening is even necessary,
since TP S.A., as the telecommunications incumbent in Poland, is the
constant target of the Competition Office and EU policies which have
eroded much of its client base in the name of "improving
competitiveness".
Add to this poor management and an improper attitude towards
employees. A good example is the commonplace mobbing in the Poznan
office. In 2006, one employee finally decided not to take it anymore
and went to court. He had been very badly treated by 3 managers and had
secretly recorded some incidents. He won his court case but, to his
dismay, there was no disciplinary procedure taken against any of the
three, two of which retain their posts to this day. Employees at the
Poznan office say that this is a perfect reflection of how seriously
the firm treats this issue. Some even claim that the incident convinced
those managers they were untouchable, inspiring them to become even
worse.
Workers, constantly being faced with the threat of redunancies, do
not feel in a strong position to force these issues with the firm. A
few unions have, but it looks like the company just paid them lip
service and nothing is being done to tackle the real problems. Some of
the most desperate and disgruntled have tried to get attention by
writing an open letter in response to the incident in Poznan. It was
ignored by the mainstream media, ostensibly because it is anonymous.
(*) Now they have started airing their grievances on the internet.
(*Although it is not signed with a list of names, we know that
journalists were contacted personally and are aware that this is a
legitimate letter and that it reflects the opinions of a significant
group of employees.)
Below is a translation of the open letter, along with an added comment, written a few days ago:
After the suicide attempt in Poznan on March 8, 2010, another
attempted suicide occured, this time in Szczecin on March 24, 2010.
Only thanks to the lighting-fast reaction of co-workers was another
tragedy avoided.
This woman was hospitalized and had a total nervous breakdown.
What has been going on in TP S.A. for a long time is not only
related to the Call Center; mobbing and dismissals have been common
throughout the company for years. But recently the extent of this has
escalated.
Employees can no longer stand the psychological pressure put on them for many years.
In the media there is a conspiracy of silence, with a lack of
information about the tragic incidents and the situation in TP S.A.
From this we may infer how strong are the powers behind TP and Orange
(*) since information about abused animals made headlines in the media
but there is silence about the psychological abuse of people!
(* Mobile phone provider also owned by France Telecom)
How the bosses treat us cannot be explained by the crisis. It is
a sheepish drive to power and profit and any cost because money
prevents them from seeing others as human beings.
Here is the open letter:
Warsaw, March 8, 2010
Workers from Polish Telecommunications S.A.
OPEN LETTER
As employees of Polish Telecommunications S.A., we address the
President of Poland, the Director of TP S.A., the union organizations
and others…
We protest the treatment of workers as objects, not subjects.
We protest the treatment of workers as slaves and as instruments
to make profit at any cost, in exchange for low pay, especially in
comparision with the directors and managers in TP S.A.
Despite having introduced a Code of Ethics, a Code of Best
Practices, a Social Pact and even an agreement with the Office of
Electronic Communications and many other regulations, mobbing and
violations of the Labour Code are every day occurrences.
Workers are forced to achieve very strict sales goals and work
standards which are impossible to achieve in a normal 8-hour work day;
the management who plan work in such a way for the employees are well
aware of this fact.
In order to reach the sales targets, people work over 10 hours a
day and they haven’t received overtime pay for this for many years.
Workers are frightened by directors and management with threats
of dismissal and other forms of mobbing which is against the Labour
Code, which obliges employers to combat mobbing.
Despite the Social Pact concluded between unions and the Board
of TP S.A., about voluntary redundancies, the managers discriminate
against employees who have anything to do with sales, refusing to allow
them to leave.
The Social Work Inspectors from the trade unions, who are
supposed to care about compliance with the Labour Code and professional
ethics do nothing to change the situation.
This is not just an anonymous letter – this is a cry from
desperate employees from TP S.A. after the tragic suicide attempt of
our co-worker.
We ask, who gave you the right to treat workers in such a
deplorable way? Think about whose interests are you working in, and
what damage you are doing! Are workers in Poland supposed to start
committing suicide like in France Telekom in order for you to wake up
and understand what evil you are doing?? !!!
Workers of Polish Telecommunications S.A.
Selected source material (in Polish):
POZNAŃ – Ofiara mobbingu odeszła z TP: winni nadal pracują w firmie
http://wielkopolska.naszemiasto.pl/artykul/346896,poznan-ofiara-mobbingu…
Wyskoczyła z okna, bo bała się zwolnienia?
http://www.pracownik.net.pl/wyskoczyla_z_okna_bo_bala_sie_zwolnienia
List otwarty pracownicy Telekomunikacji Polskiej S.A.
http://www.pracownik.net.pl/list_otwarty_pracownicy_telekomunikacji_pols…
