885096453

JPRS-EER-91-053 25 April 1991

POLITICAL

25

“Look, look, their Blessed Virgin is like ours,” a parish-ioner of the Roman Catholic faith once marveled on seeing a procession of the faithful of the Greek Catholic Rite.

This is symptomatic and characteristic. It proves how little we know about that community and how little we want to know, and so it has been invariably for decades, maybe even for centuries.

Mormon Activities

91EP0365D Warsaw RZECZPOSPOLITA in Polish 4 Mar 91 p 3

[Article by K.Gr.: “Latter Day Saints”]

[Excerpt] (passage omitted] In Poland, a Mormon community existcd from 1922 to 1971 in the town of Zelwongi, about 20 kilometers from Morąg. In 1971 all members of the community went to West Germany. The church renewed its activity six years later. It has about 250 followers. That number is growing.

In Warsaw on Wolska Street, a House of Prayer has been built. It also serves as a mission chancellery.

ROMANIA

FSN Vice President Moldovan Interviewed

AU1804120991 Bucharest AZI in Romanian 13 Apr 91

pp 1-2

[Interview with Ioan Moldovan, vice president of the Executive Bureau of the Steering Collegium of the National Salvation Front, by Liana Sega; place and datę not given: “Social Democracy—Live”]

[Text] (Sega] Mr. Ioan Moldovan, you are currently facing an extremely difficult and sensitive problem. You have been appointed by your collcagues from the Exec-utive Bureau of the Steering Collegium to establish effective and mutually beneficial relations between the Front and the trade unions of Romania and to monitor how the social policy formulated by the ruling party is being applied. How do you view your mission?

[Moldovan] First I want to mention that I have Mr. Ioan Oancea, deputy of Harghita County, at my side. Thus, I am not alone in facing this “specter.” Second, like the other political leaders in the counties, throughout the period preceding the National Convention I paid atten-tion to two aspects, being somewhat familiar with this activity, which—on the basis of the Roman motion—is now entering a new stage. We have to bear in mind the important role of the trade unions as the only institu-tionalized representatives of the various sectors of the population. Having constant contact with them is the best way to communicate with the people themselves and to becomc acquainted with the complexity of objec-tive facts. As a first objective, I propose to identify the position of each trade union on the various problems in the current period. Thus I propose to obtain exact and correct information. Thcn it will be necessary to explain the position of the National Salvation Front [FSN], as the ruling party and trade union partner. We want these organizations to be able to convincc themsclves—on the basis of objective information—that the Front is the political formation that is best able to respond to the interests of trade union members, that it is able to guarantee certain rights, and that, through the elear adoption of the objectives pursued by social democratic ideology, it reflects the interests of wage-eamers in a nondemagogic way.

Experience so far reveals that there are enough trade unions that do not yet understand their role in society; they bchave either too aggrcssivcly or too reticently. Since there are no genuine employers in Romania, almost all trade unions wish to negotiate their claims directly with the govemment, something that is not natural nor useful for either side, nor for the economy in generał. At the same time, one can notę that conflicting interests may exist or crop up between social groups and among various trade unions respectively. As a result of an improper understanding of the stage we are currently going through, or of what our society wants to tum into, many people think that certain rights, espccially finan-cial ones, are derived from the State, which, very often, is viewed as a predatory and covetous institution taking “the skin off people" and which, consequently, should in tum be “tapped” by all possible means.

It is time for people to understand that, in fact, anything that goes beyond the things they are entitled to and beyond decency is not being extracted from the purse of this “disagrceable entity": the State, but only from the purse of all citizens.

Bearing all this in mind, it is necessary for the trade unions to seek a new way in which to negotiate their viewpoints, first and foremost, among themselves in order to arrive at a common position before taking their claims before the government. In this way we can visu-alize a different and morę natural way to achieve social peace, namcly not by rallying trade unions around a political idea, but by uniting common social interests.

Likewise, it is necessary for trade union leaders who participate in leadership roles to master this art/science better, above all by understanding the role of the social institution at whose hełm they have been placed by the employees. The FSN will try to identify those trade unions in countries with experience in this kind of activity—I am referring especially to Western ones— that are prepared to pay leaders who will share their generał knowledge about the role and position of trade unions in society, and about the way in which this role should be played.

[Sega] What can you tell us about the other aspect of the activity for which you will be responsible from now on, namely social policy—which actually is very close to the aspect of relations with the trade unions?