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Social Justice Movement
Social Justice Movement (Polish: Ruch Sprawiedliwości Społecznej, RSS) was a Polish radical left-wing socialist political party. It was founded by Piotr Ikonowicz on 2 May 2014. and registered on 5 September 2014. The main tenet of the party was to represent the poorest and weakest in Polish society and to fight "against social exclusion, inequality and economic exploitation". The party was active politically and formed electoral lists together with other minor left-wing parties, but it never managed to gain any seats. Amongst others, the party ran together with parties such as Left Together and Labour Union, as well as independently; at the same time, it also worked together with parties such as Samoobrona. It also gathered signatures and submitted draft proposals for anti-privatization and anti-eviction laws. It was deregistered on 6 February 2023.
The RSS was founded on the basis of the Office for Social Justice (Polish: Kancelaria Sprawiedliwości Społecznej, KSS) run by Piotr Ikonowicz. Its platform prioritised abolition of the so-called junk contracts, improvement of the position of trade unions, and banning eviction "onto the street". The party would focus on social justice and support of the most underprivileged, especially the poor and the homeless. It vehemently opposed capitalism which it described as a discriminatory system which undertakes "frantic pursuit of profit maximisation at the expense of human life and dignity" and in which the capital rules people and, with socialism promoted as a much fairer system that can achieve the opposite. It had an ambivalent stance towards People's Republic of Poland, praising its progress on social justice but criticizing it for breaking up worker strikes. The party also stressed that it does not oppose nationalism nor clericalism, and praised the Catholic socialist Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland and its late leader Andrzej Lepper, whom Ikonowicz described as "a statesman".
The party was founded as a political extension of KSS, which was registered as a social association and movement in 2010; the movement provided legal and economic assistance to "people at risk of or affected by social exclusion". In addition, the movement engaged in political actions, becoming known for slogans such as "Housing a right not a commodity!". The KSS activists also protected tenants from eviction. According to the party's leader, KSS activists concluded that evictions will never stop without a radical change, which inspired them to transform the movement into a political party in 2014.
Shortly before the registration of the party, the Polish Communist Party reacted to the news of Ikonowicz's plans to turn KSS into a political party. The Communist Party wrote a cautious endorsement, praising the anti-capitalist stance of the Social Justice Movement, but also noting that Ikonowicz was a dissident against the Polish People's Republic, which makes him "a participant in the overthrow of the communist system and builder of capitalism in Poland". Social Justice Movement later clarified that it had an ambivalent stance towards communist Poland, acknowledging its crucial role in redistribution of wealth and fighting for social justice on one hand, but condemning its tendency to break up worker strikes on the other.
In the 2014 Polish local elections, RSS fielded for mayor of Warsaw Agata Nosal-Ikonowicz (wife of the party leader), who received 1.11% of the vote, coming 9th out of 11 candidates. In the elections in Wrocław, RSS co-founded a local committee, which fielded Konrad Rychlewski for mayor., who received 0.8% of the votes, taking the last place. In the elections to the Lubusz Voivodeship Sejmik, RSS ran together with the Green Party as the Green New Deal committee, which won 0.62% of the popular vote. Before the 2015 Polish presidential election, the party supported Green candidate Anna Grodzka, who, however, failed to collect the required number of signatures required to register her candidacy. On 11 July 2015, the RSS joined the Social Movement of the Republic of Poland. In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, RSS activists comprised almost the entire Warsaw electoral list for the Sejm (opened by Piotr Ikonowicz). An RSS activist also ran as a candidate from the party list in Lublin.
In 2016, the party gathered signatures in Warsaw for a draft resolution that would protect tenants living in buildings returned by the city of Warsaw to legal successors of pre-WW2 via reprivatization program. The party stated that tens of thousands citizens of Warsaw are affected by reprivatization, and are forced into homelessness through the new owner either termining legal agreements with the hitherto tenants or raising rent prices. The draft resolution by the party was to give Warsaw tenants affected by privatization programs a right to apply for social housing; tenants were also to be given special protection from higher rent. The party also organised a rally to help gather the necessary amount of signatures. During the rally, Ikonowicz stated: "I do not yet see in the new government the will to stand on the weaker and more numerous side, i.e. on the side of the majority of society, who do not go on holidays, who earn poorly, who do not benefit from state aid and are condemned to emigrate or to themselves."
In January 2017, Piotr Guział joined the RSS. In the 2018 Polish local elections, Piotr Ikonowicz, running with KWW Sprawiedliwości Społecznej Piotra Ikonowicza, came 9th among 14 candidates for the office of mayor of Warsaw, receiving 7271 votes (0.82% of valid votes). In the city council elections his committee received 1.19% of the popular vote. In the Gdańsk local election, RSS co-founded (among others, together with the Greens, Feminist Initiative and the Polish Initiative association) the Jolanta Banach Lepszy Gdańsk committee, which fielded IF leader Elżbieta Jachlewska for mayor. In the city council elections, it crossed the electoral threshold but failed to win any seats, and the mayoral candidate came fourth out of seven candidates, with less than two percent support. Piotr Guział ran for the Warsaw council in this election on behalf of a rival committee, and did not support Piotr Ikonowicz in the mayoral election.
In the 2019 European Parliament election in Poland, RSS ran as part of the Lewica Razem coalition, together with Left Together and Labour Union. Piotr Ikonowicz opened the LR list in the Łódź constituency and Elżbieta Wisz in the Podkarpackie constituency. There were 11 RSS members on the coalition's lists. LR did not reach the electoral threshold. In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, although the RSS did not join the Left coalition, party member Anna Wilk-Baran ran for the Sejm from the Piła list of the SLD, and she received 995 votes.
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Social Justice Movement
Social Justice Movement (Polish: Ruch Sprawiedliwości Społecznej, RSS) was a Polish radical left-wing socialist political party. It was founded by Piotr Ikonowicz on 2 May 2014. and registered on 5 September 2014. The main tenet of the party was to represent the poorest and weakest in Polish society and to fight "against social exclusion, inequality and economic exploitation". The party was active politically and formed electoral lists together with other minor left-wing parties, but it never managed to gain any seats. Amongst others, the party ran together with parties such as Left Together and Labour Union, as well as independently; at the same time, it also worked together with parties such as Samoobrona. It also gathered signatures and submitted draft proposals for anti-privatization and anti-eviction laws. It was deregistered on 6 February 2023.
The RSS was founded on the basis of the Office for Social Justice (Polish: Kancelaria Sprawiedliwości Społecznej, KSS) run by Piotr Ikonowicz. Its platform prioritised abolition of the so-called junk contracts, improvement of the position of trade unions, and banning eviction "onto the street". The party would focus on social justice and support of the most underprivileged, especially the poor and the homeless. It vehemently opposed capitalism which it described as a discriminatory system which undertakes "frantic pursuit of profit maximisation at the expense of human life and dignity" and in which the capital rules people and, with socialism promoted as a much fairer system that can achieve the opposite. It had an ambivalent stance towards People's Republic of Poland, praising its progress on social justice but criticizing it for breaking up worker strikes. The party also stressed that it does not oppose nationalism nor clericalism, and praised the Catholic socialist Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland and its late leader Andrzej Lepper, whom Ikonowicz described as "a statesman".
The party was founded as a political extension of KSS, which was registered as a social association and movement in 2010; the movement provided legal and economic assistance to "people at risk of or affected by social exclusion". In addition, the movement engaged in political actions, becoming known for slogans such as "Housing a right not a commodity!". The KSS activists also protected tenants from eviction. According to the party's leader, KSS activists concluded that evictions will never stop without a radical change, which inspired them to transform the movement into a political party in 2014.
Shortly before the registration of the party, the Polish Communist Party reacted to the news of Ikonowicz's plans to turn KSS into a political party. The Communist Party wrote a cautious endorsement, praising the anti-capitalist stance of the Social Justice Movement, but also noting that Ikonowicz was a dissident against the Polish People's Republic, which makes him "a participant in the overthrow of the communist system and builder of capitalism in Poland". Social Justice Movement later clarified that it had an ambivalent stance towards communist Poland, acknowledging its crucial role in redistribution of wealth and fighting for social justice on one hand, but condemning its tendency to break up worker strikes on the other.
In the 2014 Polish local elections, RSS fielded for mayor of Warsaw Agata Nosal-Ikonowicz (wife of the party leader), who received 1.11% of the vote, coming 9th out of 11 candidates. In the elections in Wrocław, RSS co-founded a local committee, which fielded Konrad Rychlewski for mayor., who received 0.8% of the votes, taking the last place. In the elections to the Lubusz Voivodeship Sejmik, RSS ran together with the Green Party as the Green New Deal committee, which won 0.62% of the popular vote. Before the 2015 Polish presidential election, the party supported Green candidate Anna Grodzka, who, however, failed to collect the required number of signatures required to register her candidacy. On 11 July 2015, the RSS joined the Social Movement of the Republic of Poland. In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, RSS activists comprised almost the entire Warsaw electoral list for the Sejm (opened by Piotr Ikonowicz). An RSS activist also ran as a candidate from the party list in Lublin.
In 2016, the party gathered signatures in Warsaw for a draft resolution that would protect tenants living in buildings returned by the city of Warsaw to legal successors of pre-WW2 via reprivatization program. The party stated that tens of thousands citizens of Warsaw are affected by reprivatization, and are forced into homelessness through the new owner either termining legal agreements with the hitherto tenants or raising rent prices. The draft resolution by the party was to give Warsaw tenants affected by privatization programs a right to apply for social housing; tenants were also to be given special protection from higher rent. The party also organised a rally to help gather the necessary amount of signatures. During the rally, Ikonowicz stated: "I do not yet see in the new government the will to stand on the weaker and more numerous side, i.e. on the side of the majority of society, who do not go on holidays, who earn poorly, who do not benefit from state aid and are condemned to emigrate or to themselves."
In January 2017, Piotr Guział joined the RSS. In the 2018 Polish local elections, Piotr Ikonowicz, running with KWW Sprawiedliwości Społecznej Piotra Ikonowicza, came 9th among 14 candidates for the office of mayor of Warsaw, receiving 7271 votes (0.82% of valid votes). In the city council elections his committee received 1.19% of the popular vote. In the Gdańsk local election, RSS co-founded (among others, together with the Greens, Feminist Initiative and the Polish Initiative association) the Jolanta Banach Lepszy Gdańsk committee, which fielded IF leader Elżbieta Jachlewska for mayor. In the city council elections, it crossed the electoral threshold but failed to win any seats, and the mayoral candidate came fourth out of seven candidates, with less than two percent support. Piotr Guział ran for the Warsaw council in this election on behalf of a rival committee, and did not support Piotr Ikonowicz in the mayoral election.
In the 2019 European Parliament election in Poland, RSS ran as part of the Lewica Razem coalition, together with Left Together and Labour Union. Piotr Ikonowicz opened the LR list in the Łódź constituency and Elżbieta Wisz in the Podkarpackie constituency. There were 11 RSS members on the coalition's lists. LR did not reach the electoral threshold. In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, although the RSS did not join the Left coalition, party member Anna Wilk-Baran ran for the Sejm from the Piła list of the SLD, and she received 995 votes.