Working Record of a Conversation of Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki with Secretary of Labor of the United States, Elizabeth Dole

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Working record of a conversation of Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki with Secretary of Labor of the United States, Elizabeth DOLE

WASHINGTON, 22 March 1990.

The meeting took place at the Polish Embassy. First of all, Elizabeth DOLE referred to her visit to Poland and confirmed her willingness to offer as much assistance as possible. She wishes to expand the existing government funds with a collection from the private sector. This collection was made formally difficult due to conflicts of interest. This issue has now been resolved by a special Senate mandate.

During the discussion, it was agreed that at present the most important issue in the mutual relations is to fill the training campaign with content, in particular that of employees losing their jobs. E. Dole presented plans to create a demonstration project on this issue in Szczecin. Plans are being drawn up to set up 49 such centers, one in each province, financed with funds from the collection.

Housing training is also being prepared (the first project will be launched in the Warsaw-Praga district) as well as management courses. E. Dole became a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and intends to have the university organize six-week management courses in Poland.

The Secretariat of Labor [sic; Department of Labor], which has a unique world-wide experience in the field of labor statistics, wishes to share with Poland. Cooperation with the Statistics Poland (GUS) has already been established in this respect.

In view of the above, E. Dole called for direct contacts with min. Kuroń. As she said, she does not want to contact him every time through the Department of State or the CIA.

In reply, Prime Minister T. Mazowiecki proposed that so-called social assistant be established within the framework of the Polish [diplomatic] mission in Washington.

E. Dole’s proposal met with enthusiastic approval. This would not only speed up mutual contacts, but also help to target those areas that are really most useful.

E. Dole is planning a meeting with min. Kuroń in May when he will be awarded an honorary title of the University of Atlanta. She also asked for the Prime Minister's permission that min. Kuroń participate in an event organized to collect money for his fund. The permission has been granted.

Finally, Elizabeth Dole shared her optimistic prediction about the Polish economy. Poland, according to the estimates of the American Department of Labor, has the best social structure in the world in terms of age, professional activity and education.

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