Poland was one of the founding members of the ILO in 1919.

Viewed from a historical perspective, the most important milestone of the cooperation between Poland and the ILO was the dispute to provide a legal status to Solidarnosc, Poland’s most famous free trade union movement established in 1980. From there, the road ultimately led to free elections in Poland and many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, European Union membership, and Poland’s new role in the international arena.

Since the early 1990s, the ILO's support to Poland focused on reforming labour markets in the context of a transition from a centrally planned economy to a socially responsible market economy. The next major step was to advise Poland on aligning labour market and social policies with EU directives preparing the country for EU membership. After EU accession in 2004, the ILO supported active labour market policies, minimum wage policies, and rights-based labour emigration of Polish workers.

Today, Poland joined the group of ILO’s development partners making voluntary contributions to the technical work of the ILO in other countries. In 2015, Poland supported a project strengthening labour inspections in Ukraine.

Latest news and stories

It's World Day of safety and health at work!
Textile workers in Romania

It's World Day of safety and health at work!

Promotion of social justice essential for sustainable and equitable recovery, ILO tells EU ministers
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Informal EPSCO

Promotion of social justice essential for sustainable and equitable recovery, ILO tells EU ministers

Projects and programmes

Global Action Programme on Migrant Domestic Workers and their Families

Global Action Programme on Migrant Domestic Workers and their Families

Global Action Programme on Migrant Domestic Workers and their Families

Forced labour

Global Action Programme on Migrant Domestic Workers and their Families

Publications

ILO Central and Eastern Europe Newsletter March 2024

ILO Central and Eastern Europe Newsletter March 2024

Reflections on the introduction of Universal Labour Guarantee in selected Central and Eastern European countries

Reflections on the introduction of Universal Labour Guarantee in selected Central and Eastern European countries

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Picture of a book case.
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Contact

ILO activities in Poland are coordinated by the ILO office for Central and Eastern Europe, based in Budapest.

Email : budapest@ilo.org
Phone : +36 1 301 4900
Fax : +36 1 353 3683

Address
Mozsár utca 14. 
Budapest
Hungary
1066

Postal Address
Pf. 936
H-1386 Budapest
Hungary

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