Born on 11 March 1955, in Poland Married, two sons
Education
Master’s degree in languages (Romanic philology)
1974-1978 : Jagellonne University, Cracow, Poland
1995-1997: Teacher training college, Cracow
Professional experience
| 1978-1981 | sales agent for “Telkom-Telos”, a tele-electronics company, Cracow, Poland |
| 1979 | military service, armoured infantry military school, Wroclaw – Warsaw |
| 1980 | Co-founder of NSZZ “Solidarność”, member of its Works Council at “Telkom-Telos”, Cracow |
| 1981-1992 | Civil servant with the National Education Ministry (dormitory supervisor and language teacher) in different schools (technical secondary school, arts secondary school, primary school), Rzeszów, Poland |
| 1992-1996 | Secretary of the Regional Council of NSZZ “Solidarność”, Rzeszów, Poland |
| 1992-2003 | Member of the National Commission of NSZZ “Solidarność |
| 1997-1998 | Coordinator of the European Integration Commission, Gdansk, Poland |
| 1998-2003 | Secretary of the National Commission of NSZZ “Solidarność”, Gdansk |
| 1999-2002 | Vice-President of the National Commission |
Since 2003: Elected Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation at the Prague Congress in May 2003. Re-elected in 2007 in Seville. Responsible for: social protection, disabled people, regional policy and economic and social cohesion, internal market, services of general interest
Other professional experience
| 1998-2001 | Member of the Consultative Committee reporting to the Minister Plenipotentiary in charge of integration into the European Union |
| 1999-2001 | Member of the Policy Programming Council for CONSENSUS (PHARE programme on social protection) |
