US embassy cable - 05WARSAW2779

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 002779 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2010 
TAGS: ELAB, PGOV, PL, Polish Elections 
SUBJECT: LARGEST POLISH TEACHERS UNION BACKS 
SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN ELECTIONS 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor David Morris. 
Reasons: 1.5 (B and D). 
 
1. (U) In a surprise move, the Union of Polish Teachers (ZNP) 
announced on July 6 that it would support the Social 
Democracy of Poland (SdPl) in fall elections.  ZNP followed 
the far-left Union of Labor (UP) and minuscule Greens 2004 
Party, which had earlier signed election alliances with the 
SdPl.  By throwing its lot in with SdPl, ZNP broke ranks with 
the post-communist All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions 
(OPZZ), to which ZNP belongs.  OPZZ earlier declared its 
support in elections for the governing Democratic Left 
Alliance (SLD), and OPZZ National Chairman Jan Guz is likely 
to run for parliament on the SLD ticket.  According to ZNP 
President Slawomir Broniarz, his union\'s move was dictated by 
SdPl\'s strong support for education in its platform. 
 
2.  (C) Friction between Broniarz and Guz likely played a 
role in ZNP\'s move.  The two have been at odds, especially 
over financial issues and the running of OPZZ.  Ideological 
differences accentuated this conflict: Broniarz comes from a 
communist reformer background, but Guz is a dyed-in-the-wool 
member of the SLD unreformed \"concrete heads\" (\"beton\") 
faction.  It had appeared that Broniarz and Guz had patched 
up their differences as they marched together in a recent 
OPZZ demonstration for government action on labor issues, but 
now this is clearly not the case. 
 
3.  (C) The Solidarity Trade Union\'s decision to work closely 
with the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) in upcoming 
elections may also have inspired ZNP.  While Solidarity has 
stopped short of fully endorsing PiS, it has agreed to advise 
the party on labor and social issues, and several Solidarity 
notables are likely to run on the PiS ticket (among them 
Solidarity Warsaw Region Chairman Jerzy Wielgus and noted 
Solidarity social policy expert Ewa Tomaszewska).  In 
private, Solidarity leaders admit that the union\'s support 
for PiS will be greater than it appears on the basis of their 
agreement.  For example, Solidarity National Deputy Chairman 
Maciej Jankowski (PROTECT) told us that if the second round 
of the presidential elections will be a close contest, the 
union will issue a statement endorsing PiS candidate Lech 
Kaczynski (note: Kaczynski is all but certain to make it to 
the second round). 
 
4. (C) Comment. ZNP\'s defection appears to be a significant 
blow to OPZZ, if less so for SLD.  ZNP is arguably the 
strongest single union in OPZZ; with approximately 300,000 
members, it makes up over 30 percent of OPZZ membership.  It 
is also one of the wealthiest unions in OPZZ, with extensive 
real estate holdings and commercial activity throughout 
Poland.  For SdPl, ZNP makes a good partner as it provides 
campaign cadres and office support, which observers have 
noted that SdPl lacks. 
ASHE