Despite threats of repression, more than 100,000 people took part in a huge demonstration for the right to abortion in Warsaw on Friday 30 October. In an incredible carnival atmosphere, slogans for reproductive rights mingled with those for the overthrow of the government. Long after the end of the demonstration, the slogans could still be heard on the public transport. The whole city was ours!
In the face of this massive movement, the ruling PiS party is distraught. Divisions are beginning to emerge within the party about how to deal with this wave of protest. For example, on 27 October, in a televised speech reminiscent of Jaruzelski’s declaration of martial law in 1981, Kaczynski (Deputy Prime Minister) called for the defence of churches against the demonstrators — that is, to join the fascist gangs that had assigned themselves this mission. It was pointed out that, under the pretext of the health situation, anyone who calls for a gathering of more than 5 people risks 8 years in prison. But on 30 October, President Duda already announced that abortion would remain possible in the case of an unviable foetus.
Threats of repression failed to intimidate the demonstrators, and the fascist gangs that tried to attack the Warsaw demonstration were insignificant in the face of the onslaught. And Duda’s proposal is laughable compared to the expectations of the movement: free abortion, to end this reactionary government, which has lost its authority because of its mismanagement of the COVID crisis, and the end of the political power of the Church.
Kaczyński’s attempt to play the strong man has left him looking even weaker and more ridiculous than before. The aura that he had as a hard man and a master tactician strategist has been smashed. Far from intimidating the movement, it has made the movement stronger and more confident — they defied him and he proved to be helpless.
In addition to being at an impasse, the PiS is losing its social base. Demonstrations took place in PiS electoral strongholds, small provincial towns and working-class neighbourhoods where there had been no demonstrations for 30 years. Many PiS voters, who voted for them for their social promises, are joining the movement. Even some of the football hooligans, a breeding ground for the extreme right, speak out in favour of women’s rights (with the ambiguous position of declaring themselves in defence of women but against the “leftists”, but it still shows a shift).
What next for the movement?
At the time of writing, there is no call for a new women’s strike like the 28th of October or for other national demonstrations like the 30th. OSK, the de facto leadership of the movement, is calling for blockades at a local level. OSK has also founded an “advisory committee” with different political figures. This initiative is highly criticised within the movement because the composition of this committee was not elected but appointed from above.
As we said in our article of 27 October, Alternatywa Socjalistyczna and ROSA Polska are calling for the formation of democratic strike committees. Local committees could then coordinate at a national level and elect a leadership of the movement from within.
A risk with a self-proclaimed leadership is that it is not accountable to the base and will be very sensitive to external pressures. It could accept compromises far below the aspirations of the masses and what can be gained. The PiS will be able to make use of this and enter into negotiations with this leadership, which would allow it to limit the damage to itself.
To prevent this, we need not only a leadership that truly represents the movement, but also a strategy not to let the potential be lost. A general strike, by further increasing the number who can join the demonstrations and above all by using the leverage of workers’ economic power, would certainly be a turning point towards winning.
Unfortunately, the leaders of the main trade unions signed an appeal for calm on the very day of the big Warsaw demonstration, together with the bosses, under the pretext of the COVID crisis. This does not at all represent the mindset of the rank and file of these trade unions. Discussions at our workplaces and with other trade unionists show broad support of the working class for the movement. There have been actions in workplaces, such as hospitals and transport, and declarations of support from unions of postal workers, taxi drivers, miners… The union August 80 announced that they would provide support to anyone prosecuted for their participation in the movement, a very good initiative. We continue to build pressure from the base to call for a general strike and call on all those around us to do so.
The popularity of slogans to overthrow the government raises a crucial question: what should we replace it with? The vacancy could be quickly filled by opportunistic establishment politicians. In order to secure their power, they would meet some of the movement’s expectations regarding reproductive rights, while sparing the capitalists and the political forces represented by the church — i.e. probably with a new “compromise”, and without making free abortion and contraception accessible to all.
Alternatywa Socjalistyczna and ROSA Polska argue that the overthrow of the PiS will not be able to guarantee a complete and long-term victory without the overthrow of the system that the PiS protects. We defend within this movement that capitalism must be overthrown and replaced by a socialist system that meets the needs of all and lays the material and social foundations to ensure full reproductive rights.
