Role reversal: Plumber entices French to Poland
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.He is blond, strapping and sexy. He holds the tools of his trade in a suggestive pose. But the news for the French people is that if they want to see the Polish plumber they will have to travel to Poland.
He is blond, strapping and sexy. He holds the tools of his trade in a suggestive pose. But the news for the French people is that if they want to see the Polish plumber they will have to travel to Poland.
Poland has struck back in its war with France over the Polish plumber, blamed by the French for the overwhelming "no" vote in the EU referendum.
Fears of an invasion by Polish plumbers fuelled debate as supporters of the "no" campaign warned that the Polish plumber threatened French jobs by working for low wages.
The Polish tourist agency in Paris has now tried to put the myth to bed through a tongue-in-cheek advert on its website aimed at encouraging the French to visit Poland. "Welcome to Poland", the homepage says beside a picture of the Polish hunk, clad in green overalls and a white T-shirt.
"I'm staying in Poland. Lots of you should come over." The "plumber" is photographed posing in front of mountain gorges and other picturesque scenes.
The Polish plumber issue was fed by a proposed European directive which would allow workers from new member states such as Poland and Portugal to work in "old" Europe on the basis of their domestic working conditions.
The French government has taken the issue so seriously that, yesterday, the French Senate was discussing an amendment to the country's labour law in order to deal with such "social dumping."
"This is not an official Polish campaign, we just did it as a joke as there has been a lot of talk about Polish plumbers during the recent referendum", said a source at the tourism bureau.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments