On 25 October in Strasbourg, ambassador Piotr Switalski – a representative of the Polish government at the Council of Europe – signed the revised European Social Charter. Now this document must be ratified by the Polish parliament.

The European Social Charter came into effect in 1965 and its additional protocol in 1988. It defines and introduces the protection of economic and social rights as part of the Council of Europe system. The catalogue includes, among others, the right to work and fair remuneration, the right to organize, and the right to protection of health and social security. Signing the Charter, a country acknowledges part I of the Charter as a declaration of objectives and accepts the obligations associated with at least five out of the seven clearly listed provisions. Furthermore, the country must select a certain set of rights, by which it will additional be obliged to abide, however no fewer than 10 articles.

Poland is a party of the Charter since 1997 and has taken on, among others, the obligations resulting from the right to organize and the rights to bargain collectively.

The revised European Social Charter, approved in 1996, acknowledges the rights entered in the Charter and the additional protocol, and introduces new rights such as: the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, right to housing, right to protection in cases of termination of employment, right to protection against sexual harassment in the workplace and other forms of harassment; rights of workers with family responsibilities to equal opportunities and equal treatment; rights of workers’ representatives in undertakings. The revised Charter also extends the principle of non-discrimination and consolidates the equality of women and men in all the protected domains.