WARSAW (ILO online) – On 29 April, anti-globalization marchers took to the streets of Warsaw during the European Economic Summit. Among the peaceful demonstrators, reminiscent of the 60s hippie movement, a group of haggard looking people appeared a little out of place.

They carried a big banner "Spoleczny Komitet Obrony Biedaszyby" (Social Committee for the Defence of Poor Man's Mine Shafts"). A complex sounding name, but a logical one. The Committee was established in Walbrzych in the southwest of Poland by the poor and unemployed of the region. To make ends meet, they resort to illegal mining – either reopening old, closed down and abandoned mines or digging new ones on or just below the surface, looking for coal and coal dust. Some of the miners have been killed in accidents, but say they have no other choice but to do this dangerous work.

They have some justification. Unemployment in the region is about 30 per cent compared to a national rate of 20.5 per cent. Only one out of six of these mostly long-term unemployed are eligible for benefits. Government and local authorities are trying to help – also by using EU assistance – but results are limited by the sheer magnitude of the problem.

After Poland's accession to the EU, such issues are in the forefront of people's concerns. In a recent survey commissioned by the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Radio ZET and the TV station TVN, 37 per cent of those interviewed expressed hope when asked about their attitudes towards the EU, 50 per cent expressed anxiety and 25 per cent fear. According to the survey, many people fear being left out as those who are already better off economically and have more skills will stand more of a chance of benefiting from EU accession. According to the same survey, the division is stark: while some skilled and educated workers appear to be benefiting from the transformation already, a majority also felt left out, disillusioned and helpless.

This situation contrasts with the remarkable growth rate of Poland's GDP, which rose by 3.7 per cent last year and is expected to be even higher in 2004 (5 per cent). The inflation rate has reached a low of 1.9 per cent and labour productivity in industry has grown by 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same quarter in 2003.

After 15 years of socioeconomic transformation, Poles shop for food in western supermarket chains, buy clothing from designer shops that can be found in any industrialized capital, furnish their households with major brand, top quality appliances, enjoy fast food and drive mass produced cars the same as any European would. Needless to say, they also find employment at the companies which produce these goods.

The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency estimates that the accumulated value of foreign direct investment in Poland amounted to some USD 72 billion dollars at the end of 2003 – the largest number in the region, and it created about 1 million jobs in the economy. According to the FDI 2003 Confidence Index, Poland has become the fourth most preferred investment destination worldwide and positioned itself as the most attractive investment destination in Europe.

The main problem will be to transform these positive economic trends into visible improvements for the poor and unemployed. This will be difficult in the short term. Poland's accession to the EU will accelerate the pace of restructuring in sectors like agriculture and mining. EU funds will certainly alleviate the process but it will be difficult to avoid the negative effects. The budget deficit may reach 5.9 per cent of the GDP this year while unemployment is not expected to fall rapidly.

In spite of these difficulties, many people continue to be optimistic. Putting social and economic aspects aside, accession to the EU has a tremendous psychological value to the nation. On 1 May 2004, the painful division of Europe finally came to an end. In Poland, "Solidarity" trade union veterans can surely be proud of what they started 24 years ago – the long march to freedom and democracy, to Europe.

These and other issues were on the agenda of a Conference of workers, employers and governments attending the first of a series of national and regional follow-up meetings after the publication of the report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization in February 2004. In its report ( Note 1), the Commission called for an "urgent rethink" of current policies and institutions of the governance of globalization, focusing on many of the issues that are bothering Poles and other workers in the new accession states as they join the EU.

As the Commission report argues, addressing globalization begins at home. The benefits of globalization can only be widely shared within and between countries, the report says, if they succeed to control its adverse effects, and if the basic principles of democracy, social equity, human rights and the rule of law are respected. Sound institutions and a more effective State are required to strengthen the capabilities of people and enterprise and provide adequate social protection. Yet fully meeting these conditions will not be an easy job for the political elite in Poland and their partners in the European institutions and the international economic agencies.

Many people have lost the confidence in these elites. The new Polish government, which has recently been formed, will have to work hard to restore confidence in the population. The Vilnius Conference recommended that a good start would be to focus economic and social policies, such as the reform of public finances, on the goal of decent work for all as proposed by the World Commission. That cannot come too soon for the Walbrzych miners.

Note 1 - A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All, World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, published, International Labour Office, Geneva 2004, ISBN 92-2-115426-2.