Quarrel on the Titanic, employers and employees face the crisis together, the squaw, the bee, the brain and other types of women in politics.

Weekly press reviewed by Krystyna Kolosowska

Barely a few months ago, it seemed that the crisis will strengthen the European Union and make the Europeans join forces to confront it, writes the Polish version of Newsweek. This spring, the EU was to mark with pomp and circumstance the fifth anniversary of its expansion eastwards. Now, much of the enthusiasm has waned. Angered demonstrators took to the streets in Western capitals protesting against the influx of cheap labor from the East. Politicians submit to a protectionist mood. The rich do not seem eager to care about the interests of the poor anymore. In this situation, second and third class passengers on board this ship called the EU have to watch out and make sure they do not fall overboard, as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. The good news is that even if Poland and other newcomers to the EU are second and third grade passengers, the captain of the ship is on their side. Brussels has thrown a lifebuoy in the form of fast credits to Hungary and Latvia and is to introduce faster access to the structural funds. Clearly, the European Commission is striving to protect the fundamental principles of European solidarity.

Tygodnik Powszechny looks back at the recent social summit, held at the Polish president’s office with the participation of the prime minister, trade unionists and employers. One of the key issues discussed was growing unemployment. A recipe for combating it is to be government financial aid for firms which refrain from layoffs. The trade unions have long clamored for such aid. A novelty is that employers are for as well, while before they mainly demanded easier rules to sack their employees. Businesspeople realise that if they get rid of skilled workers at the time of the crisis, they may find it difficult to take advantage of improved economic situation in the future. Also, rising unemployment causes a fall in domestic demand, which may delay the appearance of upward economic trends.

Solidarnosc, a weekly of the Solidarity trade union, says the social summit was the first important step in tackling the economic crisis. The Solidarity trade union team came to it with concrete proposals, including a special law with anti-crisis measures, like support for workers, when their firms suspend production for a time, lowering VAT on basic foodstuffs and regulations allowing for faster use of EU aid funds. It seems that all the participants in the summit shared the conviction that protection of jobs is crucial.

Wprost writes that no Polish woman has ever won such a political position as Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto or Margaret Thatcher. Polish women, who wield some sort of power, usually do it for a while. According to the weekly’s ranking of the most influential women in Polish politics, this while belongs to Anna Strezynska, who heads the Electronic Communications Office. Wprost presents different types of influential women. The squaw, for example, is the wife of a leader, like Maria Kaczynska, Poland’s First lady, who is placed third in the ranking. The bee is a woman who owes her place in politics mainly to her hard work, like Polish Health Minister Ewa Kopacz, ranked 14th. The brain is an intellectual, an expert, who is very influential, despite often working in the background. Such a woman in Poland, according to the ranking, is sociologist Jadwiga Staniszkis, with no party affiliation, who advised the Kaczynski brothers, when they created the Law and Justice, the biggest opposition party here. Finally, there is a fighter, like the winner of this ranking, Strezynska. ‘She is really tough’, politicians say. She is fighting from the position of an expert, being a lawyer specializing in telecommunications and media law. Interestingly, there are actually no women leaders in the weekly’s ranking. Polish women are clearly encountering a barrier in their careers. Why? A diagnosis suggested by Wprost is that patriarchal Christian societies, like in Poland, do not welcome the matriarchal idea of women’s power.

In communist Poland on International Women’s Day, on 8 March, women were given flowers and tights, a welcome gift for those who lived in the economy of scarcity. Now, the emphasis is on equal rights, writes Polityka. The European Commission has launched a campaign to coincide with the International Women’s Day tackling the gender pay gap in the European Union. Studies show that women receive more than 17 percent less in their pay packets than men. In Poland the gap is around 10 percent, which sounds better but experts point out that the EU average is driven down by figures from the Mediterranean states, where the situation of women on the labor market is very difficult. In Poland, the source of inequality are poor promotion prospects. Women receive similar pay packets as men holding the same position. The problem is that it is harder for them to win such a position.