Our second major event planned in relation to the IWA-AIT centenary took place on 1st April in Collosseum Club in Košice. Thanks to the feedback we got after the first event in Bratislava we were able to improve the IWA history presentation, and the discussion with delegations from SolFed (UK), WAS (Austria), General Secretary of the IWA from Poland and PA was more brisky and content-wise also more compact.
It was not easy to organise an event with international participation and completely new stuff that had to be prepared (presentation on the history of the IWA, PA history exhibition), but our impressions are mainly positive. To a large extent, this is because other people have been involved in the preparations thanks to discussions and planning that took place at our open meetings.
The past year has been quite varied and challenging at the same time. In addition to a number of workplace issues, we have been preparing quite intensively for the 28th Congress of the International Workers` Association (IWA/AIT) in Spain. We supported a number of activities in Slovakia and abroad, took part in fundraising events and took care of the preparation of the International Week Against Unpaid Wages. And there was more. Find out more in this annual report.
Between 9th and 11th December the 28th regular IWA Congress took place in Alcoi, Spain. For delegations, it was undoubtedly exhausting since the agenda was long and demanding. Nevertheless, the Congress was exceptional. This was mainly because of the number of delegations and the program prepared by the Congress Committee of the CNT-AIT in Alcoi. It was really a dignified commemoration of 100 years since the founding of IWA in December 1922.
Fed up with oppression. This is how one could briefly describe yesterday‘s protest, which commemorated the two people from the queer community who were murdered on 12th October in Bratislava, as well as the systemic context of oppression. Powerful speeches and the overall energy of the protest, full of anger, rage, grief and humour, created an atmosphere that we have never seen before in Slovakia.
Cases where people contact us about unpaid wages end in different ways. Sometimes they become an open dispute (mostly successful), sometimes the issue is resolved before open dispute, and sometimes the issue is not resolved at all or communication from the workers does not continue. The following article covers almost all the mentioned scenarios that we encountered since last year's International Week Against Unpaid Wages in various cities across Slovakia It is worth noting that most them were related to hospitality and almost all cases affected women.
The International Week of Actions against Unpaid Wages started off with an action by ZSP at a Zabka convenience store. The situation concerns one worker who was cheated in two ways: by being denied the correct payment for work on Sundays and holidays and by having illegal deductions made from her salary. The sum amount of the wage theft amounted to 5688 zloties or 1170 euros. We went with a letter to demand that this money be paid.
Is your boss owing you money? Do you want to get involved in actions to improve workers’ conditions, not just for one week of the year and not just about the issue of unpaid wages? Let us know. The International Week Against Unpaid Wages was established in 2019 by the International Workers` Association (IWA) to highlight the phenomenon of unpaid wages and the possibilities to fight back using anarcho-syndicalist methods. From 10th to 16th October, we will draw attention to this issue in various forms.
The year 2021 was mainly about developing contacts in the regions, solidarity activities and participation in public events. We also won another conflict and supported several workers with their workplace problems. We took part in actions against the climate crisis, coordinated the International Week Against Unpaid Wages and hosted the IWA Plenary and Extraordinary Congress.