[The following account of life in Poland today is excerpted from the May 31 issue of Rouge, the French Trotskyist daily. The translation is by Intercontinental Press/ Inprecor./
Almost two years after the general strike that rocked Poland in June 1976, touched off by an attempt to put through price increases of 70% and 100%, the situation on the domestic market has not improved. Necessities are often unavailable in the stores, and meat cannot be obtained at the official prices. Prices have been raised on the sly by introducing "new" products and removing "inferior" quality ones from the market.
At the same time, it has been made a deliberate policy to increase social differentiation. The main objective of this is to provide a broader social base for the bureaucracy among the well-to-do sections of the population.
Special stores have appeared selling scarce goods-in particular meat-at socalled "commercial" prices, that is, twice the average regular price. So, if your wallet is fat enough, you can get meat. It seems that now most of the meat destined for the internal market goes through those stores. The windows of the stores that sell at the official prices stand empty.
For consumer durables-furniture, certain electrical appliances, cars, and so forth-which are also unobtainable on the regular market-"quick sale" prices have been established. And so by paying 30% to 50% more, it is possible to buy these items without having to wait from two to six years to get them (which is the time between the purchase and delivery of an automobile at the regular price).
In the same pattern, only "cooperatives" can build housing. And in order to become a member of one, you have to be able to lay out several tens of thousands of zlotys. (The officially recognized average monthy pay of a worker is 4,168 zlotys).*
"
In general, after joining a "cooperative, it takes several years before you get a dwelling. But, if you don't want to wait, you can always buy one with dollars (or any other Western currency). In Poland there is an officially sanctioned parallel market. It differs from the market on which ordinary people have to buy in that
*About US$130 at the official exchange rate.- IP/I
it is quite well supplied and you can pay only in foreign currency.
Unable to reduce the standard of living of the masses by cutting wages or raising prices, the bureaucracy is trying to accomplish this by other means that will not spark a response by the workers. So, at the start of 1978, the social consumption funds were slashed. The stated aim of these funds, which were thought up in the 1950s, is to introduce a social form of remuneration into the economy, remuneration in services rather than in money.
Subsequently, these funds became a handy means for financing the services that enterprises would have to provide for their employees in any case, such as cafeterias and day-care centers (the latter are quite rare despite the obvious need for them).
Besides this, a part of these funds was used to finance the vacations of workers in resorts planned for this purpose as well as the construction and maintenance of the resorts themselves. So, even though abuses were widespread, such use of the funds at least enabled the poorest families to go on vacations.
For several years, and especially since 1976 (a pure coincidence, of course), articles in the press have been questioning the social funds. They argue that these funds have become a breeding ground for corruption and cronyism and that the workers would be better motivated if they got all their pay in money, and so this would increase productivity.
However, no notable increase in wages has followed the cutbacks in the social consumption funds, cutbacks whose effects are already making themselves felt. In some factories, the number of meals served by the cafeterias has been sharply reduced, in others the prices have gone beyond the reach of the workers. Projects for constructing social facilities have been postponed.
Many working-class families will not be able to go on a vacation this year. The prices of train tickets (which were formerly taken care of, at least in part), as well as of lodging and food in the resort centers, have gone beyond their reach.
At the same time, the organized excursions to the Western countries, which were cut out in July 1977—owing to a lack of foreign currency, although this was not officially acknowledged-have been reinstituted. So, some will be able to spend three weeks in Spain, paying 40,000 zlotys per person (which is equivalent to ten
Poles lining up to buy meat.
months' wages for an average worker).
It cannot be said that the slogan raised by the Gierek team when they came to power in 1970—"We will build another Poland," that is, a better one-has not been realized. To the contrary, at every level the bureaucrats are building a better Poland for themselves.
What Is 50 Yards Long and Eats Potatoes?
In Poland, as throughout the rest of Eastern Europe, humor is often used to express sentiments for which there are few other outlets.
The following are two examples cited recently by the Washington Post:
• On the continuing shortage of meat: "What is fifty yards long and eats potatoes?" Answer: "Poles lining up to buy meat."
•On the black market purchase of dollars for Polish zlotys: "Comrade, why are Poland and America exactly alike?" Answer: "Because in neither country can you buy anything with zlotys."