1988. március (32-68. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2

Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (from abroad 441-430 2126)

62/1988 (E) 23rd March, 1988

The Provisional Programme of the "Democratic Union of

Seientific Workers"

On Tuesday after noon a discussion continued in the Budapest Kossuth Club in- volving seientific workers uho are preparing to form their own independent unión.

They first met on February 19th more than a month ago - there were more than 300 - in the Budapest Rakpart Club to discuss their plans and ideas. Seven years ago in 1981 a similar venture took piacé bút because of rigia opposition from the Central Council of Hungárián Trade Unions (CCTU) the plán remained just a plán.

Now - or more precisely at the end of last year - workers in the Hungárián ^

Academy of Sciences* Historical Science Institute have again startea a movement

which wants to establish an independent business association, research scientists

and teachers in other institutes joined immediately. The CCTU was nőt even willing

to negotiate with them and their own unión - the Civil Service Workers Union rejected the workers’ proposals after a heated debate in a meeting organised

with unión leaders from the Hungárián Academy of Sciences’ research institutes.

After the meeting in the Rakpart Club Hungárián rádió, television and press pub- licised the CCTU’s statement which condemned the - so-called - "anti-unionists" and suspected them among other things of "ill-willed political intentions". The seientific workers responded to the CCTU accusation with a declaration bút it was nőt published in the official Hungárián press so it was only announced at the Tuesday debate.

In the meantime the new unión - provisionally called the "Democratic Union of Seientific Workers" - established a eo-ordination committee which meets regularly and its working groups have begun a detailed draft of the constitution. They met again on March 22nd in the Kossuth Club where Csaba Ory, a colleague in the Hungárián Academy of Sciences Sociological Research Institute, talked about the history and present state of their initiative.

After the meeting Júlia Szalai/ a sociologist, read out the "Basic Principles"

drawn up by the co-ordination committee, this was assigned as a subject fór ?

debate as the final decision rests with members of the new unión. Following

this Pál Lederer, a worker in the Eötvös Lóránd University, read the declaration

criticising the CCTU’s statement and an information letter which will be sent

to nearly 2000 addresses along with two other documents - to unión committees,

research groups and priváté individuals. A debate followed in which nőt only

seientific workers bút fór example Antal Bogád, a postai worker, spoke, he said

that he had received no help at all from his unión when, nőt long ago, he was

transferred to a different posi'tion fór political reasons which meant a 2000

forint wage decrease and his children were to be placed in State care because

of his bad housing situation.

The debate on the Democratic Union of Seientific Workers co-ordination committee’s ^

"Basic Principles" pointed out that the employees do nőt have any proper business federation and the current connections between budget curtailments, inflation and dismissals means that the establishment of new social safe-guarding interest forms i.;j

is urgent. The new unión would like to be a corporate organ fór all who work as researchers, in a different position, in a main job, freelance, unemployed or fór those who set themselves intellectual work as a hobby, The unión’s basic task will be to fight "Fór secure conditions of existence in the widest sense". To do

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