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The precariat pandemic: Exploitation overshadowed by COVID-19 and workers’ strategies in Poland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Paweł Żuk Open the ORCID record for Paweł Żuk [Opens in a new window]  and
Piotr Żuk Open the ORCID record for Piotr Żuk [Opens in a new window]
Paweł Żuk
Affiliation:
Wrocław University of Economics, Wroclaw, Poland
Piotr Żuk*
Affiliation:
University of Wrocław, The Centre for Civil Rights and Democracy Research, Wroclaw, Poland
*
Piotr Żuk, The Centre for Civil Rights and Democracy Research, ul. Witkowska 17/1, Wrocław 51-003, Poland. Email: pzuk@uni.wroc.pl
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Abstract

Based on the material obtained from focus group interviews conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the article analyses the mechanisms used by employers towards employees, as well as the adaptation strategies applied by those in precarious employment in Poland. The authors’ considerations refer to anti-worker changes introduced under the pretext of the pandemic in the capitalist labour market: layoffs and cuts in wages, manifestations of discrimination against precarious workers and the potential attitudes of employee self-defence. The authors conclude that it is almost certain that under the conditions of post-pandemic capitalism, the number of the precariat will grow and the neoliberal system will want to retain as many of the anti-worker solutions introduced in the shadow of the pandemic as possible.

Keywords

precariatinequalitiescapitalismCOVID-19workers’ strategiesausterityclassJ70J81J28
Type
Contested Terrains
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 200 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2022

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