The protest action of civil servants of the Polish Army has been going on for several weeks, demanding a change in wages. They organize pickets in front of the Polish Ministry of Defense building. Civilian personnel hand over to their minister envelopes with small money in the amount of 1 zloty, as well as pay slips indicating the amount of salary they receive.
Civilians do not rule out strengthening the protest, but they do not want to substitute their commanders in military units. Their main task is to show their real situation and despair to the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense. Among other things, they plan to hold pickets during the Minister's visit to planned picnics in military units.
If the protest organizers do not receive a response to their demands by the end of the month, it is possible that the protest will be intensified by the demonstration of civil servants during the parade in Warsaw on August 15. We hear from the protesters that the military services are trying to stop such actions, at the moment disciplinary conversations are being held by military counterintelligence officers. Civilians are accused of working for the Kremlin.
Recall that the protest broke out at the end of May. During the demonstration in front of the Ministry of Defense, civilians demanded amendments to the Collective Agreement and the establishment of a new wage scale and an increase in the wage fund to 8 percent from the budget of the Polish Army.
In response to the announced protest, Blaszczak issued a decree on simplifying the admission of civilians to military service. In particular, it provides for the replacement of civilian positions with military ones with a higher salary. An employee who decides to sign a contract can be accepted for a military position after completing training within the framework of the recently introduced voluntary basic military service. The second way involves signing a contract with the territorial defense forces. In this case, civilians can allegedly receive a salary supplement in the amount of 1,000 zloty (220 euros).
However, the protesters note that the decision of Minister Blaszczak is not enshrined in the current legislation. On the basis of what they plan to pay people the allowances that military personnel receive, whether the period of civil service in the army will be added to the military pension, etc. no one in the leadership of the Polish Ministry of Defense can explain.
The Polish Defense Ministry could not even answer the question of how many civilians have already decided to put on a military uniform. The Ministry only stated: "We note the interest in the transition from a civilian position to a military one."
Recall that the number of civilians working in the Polish Armed Forces is about 45,000 people.
Meanwhile, their salaries leave much to be desired. Although the ministry claims that the average salary of a civilian in the army in 2022 was 5,773 zlotys (1,300 euros), representatives of the protesters indicate that real earnings are significantly lower. Because vacation pay and bonuses are added to this amount. In their opinion, the real average salary is about 5 thousand zlotys gross (1100 euros), but they receive 3.5-3.7 thousand zlotys (790-800 euros) on hand, taking into account taxes. And that is why the protest participants decided to send leaflets with the amount of their salaries to the minister en masse.
Pavel Kovalev