Imaginations not fired

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32522, 4 February 1971, Page 10

Imaginations not fired

Mr Gierek has not yet fired imaginations. Many people, jaded by the last 25 years are indifferent, apathetic, with an eye for personally profitable sidelines, rather than enthusiastic or dedicated to their work.

Poles, remembering the hopes they had of Mr Gomulka in 1956, answer with a resigned shrug when asked what they expect from his successors. The old nag has got a new harness, that is all, was one typical comment.

Mr Gierek has shown genuine concern to restore lost contact and mutual trust between the leadership and the people. Polish newspapers have become less stodgy as his policy of more consultation and freer flow of information inside and outside the Party goes into effect. But the basic problem remains lack of incentive to stir the nation out of apathy. Paradoxically a complicated •’ew bonus incentive scheme planned for introduction this year contributed largely to the industrial unrest which flared into strikes and street clashes in the Baltic coastal towns last month. “More money for better work” was the aim of the scheme which was part of an economic package to steer Poland away from allround conomic development to a more selective strategy concentrating on key industries.

In theory it was to mean] more efficient use of men and machines. But workers regarded it with suspicion, fearing it would reduce payments for piece work and overtime. The bonuses and wage rises appeared too modest to outweigh the taxfree financial attractions of the “second job” which many Poles do in their spare time and often also in regular working hours. Communist Party economic experts are at present working out a simplified and more flexible scheme which is to be submitted for a final decision by the end of this month.

Car as incentive Another more tangible incentive which Mr Gierek seems to have in mind is large-scale production of a small car for the home market at a price within the reach of the average skilled worker. He is said to have long favoured this idea, particularly for the benefit of the Silesian miners and steelworkers he ruled as Party boss in Katowice. Mr Gomulka in the past overruled him. Now the scheme appears to have been revived. Informed Polish sources talk of a plant being established in Silesia to turn out a vehicle with a Polish-made body and a Western engine manufactured under licence. More will be known when revised economic plans for the next five years are presented later this year. The revised plan, to be submitted within the next two