Issues surrounding the political stance of Polish liquor industries

Poultry Farmer Paweł Faces Challenge of Alcohol-Related Absenteeism in Poland

A poultry farmer in the village of Garbatka-Letnisko, Poland, named Paweł, has had to dismiss three of his ten employees due to their recurring alcohol-induced absenteeism. The farm houses approximately 40,000 chickens, making maintaining a reliable workforce vital to ensure their well-being and health.

Paweł lamented the difficulty in finding trustworthy laborers and emphasized the responsibility of farmers in the industry. He recounted a tragic incident in which a night-shift worker fell asleep, neglecting the ventilation system, resulting in the death of two-thirds of his flock.

Poland's labor market faces this issue due to an aging population and exceptionally low unemployment, reported at 2.6% in January, the lowest in the European Union alongside the Czech Republic. This shortage of farmhands has been further compounded by the challenges posed by excessive alcohol consumption.

Poland, while not Europe's heaviest-drinking nation, holds a second rank for alcohol-related deaths relative to its population after Slovenia, as revealed by Eurostat. The high rate is attributed to Poland's distinctive drinking patterns and deficiency in preventive healthcare. Local healthcare professionals are compelled to manage the consequences, with the emergency unit at the hospital near Paweł's farm treating around ten severely intoxicated individuals each week, many of them repeat cases.

Nationwide, emergency hospital services recorded 26,000 visits in 2023 due to alcohol-related issues, marking a significant increase from 16,000 in 2013. This escalation might be the result of Poland's market deregulation and enhanced purchasing power in the early 2000s, according to Jan Śpiewak, a Warsaw-based sociologist.

Alcohol contributes to the "markedly shorter life expectancy" of Polish men compared to women, as noted by Paweł Koczkodaj of the Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology. One of his studies found that 93% of alcohol-related laryngeal cancer cases in Poland occurred in men.

The issue of alcohol abuse transcends workplaces, affecting various facets of Polish society. In politics, for instance, far-right MP Ryszard Wilk was escorted from parliament while intoxicated in February. A month later, Prime Minister Donald Tusk encouraged deputy foreign minister Andrzej Szejna to take a leave of absence following his admission of undergoing treatment for alcohol abuse.

Candidates in the upcoming presidential election have expressed opposition to stricter alcohol regulations. Mayor and presidential frontrunner Rafał Trzaskowski successfully overturned a local court ruling that proposed banning night-time drinking along the city's Vistula riverbanks.

The alcohol industry staunchly defends its interests, with former president of the Polish association of spirits producers, Andrzej Szumowski, downplaying discussions about alcohol sale restrictions as "political fog." Instead, he advocates for improving education on responsible drinking rather than regulation.

The current administration has imposed some regulations, such as tightening the ban on selling alcohol to children. However, health minister Izabela Leszczyna faced resistance when drafting a bill that aimed to ban online alcohol sales and prohibit night-time sales at petrol stations. With minimal political will to alter Poland's drinking culture, health minister Leszczyna criticized such resistance as "stupidity, not freedom."

The high rate of alcohol-related deaths in Poland, second only to Slovenia in Europe, has implications beyond the agricultural sector, as evidenced by the frequent intoxicated individuals treated in local emergency units, including some who are repeat cases.
The issue of mental health, a critical component of health-and-wellness, is also intertwined with Poland's alcohol problem, as highlighted by the far-right MP Ryszard Wilk's removal from parliament while intoxicated in February.
In the realm of general news, the upcoming presidential election in Poland has seen candidates expressing opposition to stricter alcohol regulations, despite concerns raised by health professionals and the public about the negative impact of alcohol misuse on various aspects of society and individual well-being.