Questions & Answers
with
Nick Clegg MP - Leader of the Liberal Democrats
and
Simon Hughes MP - Liberal Democrat Party President
Hosted by The Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group

Monday 17th November 2008, 6pm, City Hall, Committee Room 5

please RSVP to libdemleader@parliament.uk

• Haringey Council is hosting an Access to Services Day for local members of the Polish community, on Saturday 15 November 2008, between 11am and 3pm at the Triangle Community Centre, St Ann's Road, N15. The aim of the event is to raise awareness of local services and strengthen links between the Polish community and service providers. It will have a specific focus on services for children and families, health and wellbeing and advice and training. Refreshments including Polish food will also be available, plus entertainment. For information call Iwona Guzel on 07817290096.

On Saturday afternoon November 8th 2008 Polish Londoners and their British friends will celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Poland's Independence with a parade led by the Polish Navy Band from Westminster Cathedral marching to a rally in Trafalgar Square.
Speakers at the rally will include prominent Poles and distinguished British parliamentarians.
The parade will follow a Celebratory Mass of Thanksgiving in the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral concelebrated by Poland's Primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp.
Mr Janusz Sikora-Sikorski, Chairman of the Organising Committee says: "It is the first time that this Polish anniversary is being celebrated in such a public way in the UK. Many young Poles in this country wanted to participate in such a large-scale colourful event. War veterans will attend with their battle standards. Polish organizations and trade union branches will march behind their banners. Young and old will march proudly together."
Polish Independence Day commemorates the date, November 11th 1918, when Poland regained its sovereignty at the end of the First World War. In fact, Poland had first been a sovereign nation more than a thousand years ago, after it had embraced Western Christianity. However in 1795 it lost that sovereignty and endured 123 years of bitter struggle for freedom against its three partitioning oppressors.
When Polish leader Jozef Pilsudski was able to proclaim the rebirth of a strong independent Poland in 1918 it was important news not only for Poles themselves, but for Europe too.
Barely 2 years later the newly independent Poland was able to defeat the Soviet Army in 1920 at the gates of Warsaw and thus saved Europe from revolution and tyranny.
In 1939 Poland was also the first country to say "No" to Hitler's demands. Then its pilots, sailors and soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with the British Armed Forces as this country's most long-lasting wartime ally.

Poland paid a terrible price for its defiance of tyranny. 6 million were killed and its major cities destroyed. There followed 44 more years of struggle and deprivation under Soviet rule.

Poland only regained its independence again in 1989 thanks to the Solidarity movement and the guiding spirit of Pope John Paul II. Now Poland is a member of NATO and the EU. It is again a democratic state with a successful modern economy and has restored Polish Independence Day as a national holiday.

TIMETABLE FOR NOVEMBER 8th 2008:

1500hrs Parade forms up in Ambrosden Avenue, alongside the Cathedral. At the head of the parade - the Polish Navy Band. Followed by wartime veterans.
1515hrs March proceeds along Victoria Street, then Parliament Square and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square

1615hrs Rally begins in Trafalgar Square.
Speakers: HE Jan Borkowski, Secretary of State, Polish Foreign Ministry
HE Barbara Tuge-Erecinska, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland
HE Dr Ryszard Kaczorowski, last President of Polish Government in Exile
Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP for Rotherham, former Minister for Europe
Mr Greg Hands, MP for Hammersmith and Fulham
Polish patriotic songs and hymns by the Polish Navy Band, the "Ave Verum" Choir and the Balham Polish parish choir

1700hrs Polish and British national anthems - end of Rally.

• "Eye on Poland: Country at the Crossroads” Special week of CNN programming on Poland. Click this link to find out more and watch the CNN video.

Polish workers who are employed in London as cleaners, security guards or receptionists are being offered free training and advice on their rights at work and how to secure them. The TUC/BERR Vulnerable Workers Project is running a one-day course that will cover issues that Polish workers often experience, such as:

problems with pay,
excessive working hours,
the withholding of holiday entitlement,
how to resolve problems in the workplace and secure rights at work.
Training materials will be available in Polish and English and a Polish interpreter will be available to support participants in the sessions. The event is also being supported by Primus Personnel and Andrzej Garus, from Primus, will be attending.

The Vulnerable Workers Project has found that Polish workers often lose out because they do not know all the employment rights that they are entitled to or how to raise a complaint if they are not getting their rights. As a result Polish workers sometimes suffer exploitation from employers who take advantage of their lack of awareness.

Polish workers form by far the biggest group of workers from A8 countries. Government figures show that 67 percent of all applications to the Workers Registration Scheme, between May 2004 and March 2008, were Polish, and these totalled more than 540,000. Yet, despite contributing hugely to the success of the UK economy, Polish workers often endure poor terms and conditions of employment at work.

Research shows that 70 percent of workers who applied to the Workers Registration Scheme, between April 2007 and March 2008, had earnings between £4.50 and £5.99 an hour. The average worker in UK earns £10.22 an hour.

The Vulnerable Workers project is targeting the ‘Building Service Sector', (cleaners, security and other workers who provide services in buildings), as this sector has consistently been one of the lowest paid. 58 percent of workers in the cleaning industry in London are migrant workers. Of these, Polish workers are the biggest group making up 26 percent of migrant workers in the cleaning industry.

The TUC/BERR Vulnerable Workers Project is a pilot that will report to Government in March 2009 on good practice and innovative ways of improving the working lives of low paid and vulnerable workers by helping them to understand and secure their full entitlement to employment rights.

The training for Polish workers will be held on Saturday 12 July 10.00am to 4.00pm in the Trade Union and Workplace Training Centre, 70 Clifton Street, EC2A 4HB (near Liverpool St Station).

NOTES TO EDITORS:

All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet
BERR is a Government Department of ‘Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform', which was formerly known as the ‘Department of Trade and Industry'
Primus Personnel is a social business that aims to provide an employment and advice service for the diverse workforce of the 21sst Century. T: 020 7692 5544
The A8 nations of the EU are Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Bob Blyth (Project Manager) T: 020 7467 1248 E: bblyth@tuc.org.uk
Laurie Heselden (Press Officer) T: 020 7467 1292 E: lheselden@tuc.org.uk

Learn more

http://www.positivelypoland.com/

1. Address of independent group promoting Polish involvement in the Elections on 1st. May 2008: http://www.polacyglosuja.org.uk/?strona,glowna
2. Here you can find a form to register on the Electoral Roll with polish language translation: http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/toolkit/languages.cfm?OfficeID=250

1. Poles and Daily Mail - 80 Headlines
2. Wiktor Moszczyński Poles in UK House of Commons Report 12.03.2008
3. GLA Ken Livingstone Press Release 15.03.2008
4. 80 ways to say "Welcome to Central European Workers" - courtesy of the "Daily Mail"
5. Complaint by Federation of Poles in GB versus "Daily Mail"
6. Response from "Daily Mail"
7. Response from Federation of Poles
8. Further response from "Daily Mail"
9. Poles in the UK and the"Daily Mail"
10. Federation of Poles: online Daily Mail article by Wiktor Moszczynski
11. Information about the case - Press Complaints Commission website

1. Election Meeting with Ken Livingstone, The White Eagle Club, Balham.
   Sunday 20-th. April 2008 4pm to 5pm.
2. Wiktor Moszczyński Speech at Ken Livingstone Meeting 15.02.2008

• Meeting with Boris Johnson - POSK, Sala Malinowa, Wednesday 19.03.2008 at 19:00