Jump to content

Elżbieta Rafalska

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elżbieta Rafalska
CCCHOM MEP
Rafalska in 2024
Member of the European Parliament
for Lubusz and West Pomeranian
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 July 2019
Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy
In office
16 November 2015 – 4 June 2019
Prime MinisterBeata Szydło
Mateusz Morawiecki
Preceded byWładysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
Succeeded byBożena Borys-Szopa
Secretary of State for Labour and Social Policy
In office
24 August 2007 – 3 December 2007
Prime MinisterJarosław Kaczyński
MinisterJoanna Kluzik-Rostkowska
Succeeded byJarosław Duda
In office
6 June 2006 – 5 April 2007
Prime MinisterJarosław Kaczyński
MinisterAnna Kalata
Succeeded byHalina Olendzka
Personal details
Born (1955-06-22) 22 June 1955 (age 70)
Wschowa, Polish People's Republic[1]
Political partyLaw and Justice
Alma materUniversity of Szczecin
Signature
^ Raab served as

Elżbieta Rafalska[a] (née Kajzer; born 22 June 1955)[1] is a Polish politician, and former Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, serving 2015 to 2019. Since 2007, Rafalska has been a Member of the Sejm and the Senate.

Education

[edit]

She graduated from the Poznan University of Physical Education [pl], Gorzów Wielkopolski branch. She graduated from the University of Szczecin in 1998 with a degree in special education, and completed further postgraduate studies in 2001 in social work.[2]

Career

[edit]

She was a member of the sixth term of the Senate, and was a member of the Sejm during its sixth, seventh, and eighth terms. She served as the Secretary of State [pl] of the then-Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, now renamed to the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.[2] In 2015, she was elected to the Sejm, receiving 22,898 votes.[3] On 16 November of that year she was appointed to the position of Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy by Prime Minister Beata Szydło.[4][5] She maintained this position in the 2017 government of newly-elected Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.[6]

In the 2019 Polish European Parliament election, she was elected as a member of parliament, receiving 70,916 votes.[7] Due to her new role in the European Parliament, she was succeeded by Bożena Borys-Szopa as Minister of Family, Labour, and Social Policy.[8] She ran unsuccessfully in the 2024 Polish European Parliament.[9]

Political positions

[edit]

In November 2024, Rafalska said that she "[had] no doubt" that the Civic Coalition primaries were manipulated by Donald Tusk in order to "humiliate" Rafał Trzaskowski and Radosław Sikorski.[10]

In a December 2024 interview, Rafalska emphasised the importance of ensuring that the country does not suffer human capital flight from what she claimed was the increasing amount of young Poles emigrating abroad. She blamed PiS's opposition party, Civic Platform, saying that they "did nothing to keep young Poles in the country".[11]

During the 2019 social worker union strikes, Rafalska blamed local governments for not compensating social workers adequately and said that there was nothing the national government could do about the situation.[12] According to the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, the national government sets the minimum wage for social workers whilst the local governments determine the social workers' salaries.[13]

Awards

[edit]

Rafalska received the Grzegorz Palka Award [pl] in 2017 for "implementing the 500+ Programme in cooperation with local governments"[14][15] and was given the "Fighter for the Family" award by Platform for the Family Catalonia-ONU for 500+ Programme being an "important instrument promoting the family".[16][17]

In 2017, Hungarian President János Áder awarded her the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit for her work in developing and strengthening Polish-Hungarian relations in the field of family and social policy.[18]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Polish pronunciation: [ɛlʐˈbjɛta raˈfalska] ⓘ

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Elżbieta RAFALSKA". European Parliament. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Elżbieta Rafalska" (in Polish). President of Poland. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Wyniki wyborów do Sejmu RP" (in Polish). National Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Prezydent powołał rząd" (in Polish). President of Poland. 16 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Elżbieta Rafalska – the new Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy". Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Ekipa Szydło w rządzie Morawieckiego. Jutro expose, głosowanie nad wotum zaufania w środę". TVN24 (in Polish). Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Wyniki głosowania - KOMITET WYBORCZY PRAWO I SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ - Okręg wyborczy nr 13 [Gorzów Wielkopolski]" (in Polish). National Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  8. ^ "President appoints new ministers". President of Poland. 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  9. ^ "KOMITET WYBORCZY PRAWO I SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ in European Parliament election 2024". National Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  10. ^ "TYLKO U NAS. Rafalska: Nie mam wątpliwości, że prawybory w KO są ustawione. Ostatecznie może dojść do podmiany kandydata na Tuska". wPolityce.pl (in Polish). 23 November 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  11. ^ "TYLKO U NAS. Polacy gotowi szukać pracy za granicą. Rafalska: To druzgocąca ocena tego, co obecnie dzieje się w Polsce". wPolityce.pl (in Polish). 28 December 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  12. ^ Nowak, Marta K. (29 April 2019). "Rafalska: "Wsłuchuję się w postulaty pracowników socjalnych". Jednym uchem wpadają, drugim wypadają". OKO.press (in Polish). Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Wyjaśnienia dot. pracowników pomocy społecznej i pracowników socjalnych" (in Polish). Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  14. ^ "Nagroda im. G. Palki" (in Polish). Liga Krajowa. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  15. ^ "Nagroda im. G.Palki dla minister Rafalskiej" (in Polish). Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. 22 October 2017. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Nagroda „Walczący o rodzinę"" (in Polish). Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  17. ^ "Minister odebrała nagrodę „Walczący o rodzinę"" (in Polish). Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. 5 April 2017. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  18. ^ "Elżbieta Rafalska odznaczona przez Węgrów. Minister otrzymała Krzyż Średni Orderu Węgierskiego" (in Polish). Telewizja Polska. 4 December 2017. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elżbieta_Rafalska&oldid=1300332548"