Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "New Warsaw Express"

Ozarow on My Mind

In a week that saw the eruption of union protests on several fronts, the most severe was the pitched battle involving up to 1,000 police officers, private security guards and ex-employees in front of the Ozarow cable factory, closed by its owner, KFK Kable, six months ago.
Protestors had been blocking the entrance to the plant - some 60 miles outside of Warsaw - for more than 200 days. On Tuesday night hundreds of hired security men arrived to clear the way for the company to remove at least a part of the facility's machinery. Workers at the plant were offered relocation packages to move to the company's twin factory in Szczecin before the factory was closed, but all refused.
Earlier during the conflict, company managers were viciously attacked on the premises, and for weeks now an alliance of ex-workers and local citizens has been resisting KFK's attempts to reclaim its property. This time the action began at 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning. A convoy of more than a dozen police patrol cars and water cannon carriers was seen heading for the plant. Sudenly, a large group of people from the local housing estate appeared to support the 200 former workers permanently located in front of the factory's main gate. “The police promised me that this would not happen at night - because people take it very negatively,” local mayor Kazimierz Stachurski told Gazeta Wyborcza. “And now, we've been deceived.”
The conflict, however, broke out in full at 4 a.m. when a second convoy arrived - this time four buses full of private security personnel. The well-armed men swiftly began forcing the protestors away from the gate, shining bright torchlight in their eyes, and kicking and strangling those who remained. Journalists at the scene reported hearing the explosions of firecrackers and women's screaming as the struggle raged. The security men responded with tear gas.
After several minutes of the uneven battle, two local fire brigade wagons arrived to help the workers - drenching the security men with water cannon. At this point the police finally intervened. The crowd broke and ran - but a minute later returned to charge the police lines. By this point there were a number of seriously wounded on the protesters' side - including women and strike leader Stanislaw Golebiewski, who was knocked unconscious.
At around 5:30 a.m., the first company lorries arrived to remove equipment. They were escorted through the factory's side gates by police - under hails of stones from protestors. Having been forced out of the company grounds, the protestors spent the rest of the day attempting to block the main Poznan-Warsaw highway, which runs through the town. Police kept forcing them off the road, but the efforts succeeded in creating substantial traffic build-ups. By noon, 14 trucks had left the factory fully loaded, but the protestors were unrepentant. “We'll be here till the end,” union leader Slawomir Gzik told Gazeta Wyborcza. “And we will certainly try to retake the factory.” It's not altogether clear for what reason.
National union leaders the next day demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Leszek Miller and Minister of Internal Affairs Krzysztof Janik in relation to the police's part in events. Janik insists that the police acted in line with the law.

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