Polish plumber

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Stereotype of Eastern Europeans

title: "Polish plumber" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["anti-immigration-politics-in-europe", "politics-of-europe", "tourism-in-poland", "france–poland-relations", "2005-in-france", "2005-in-poland", "anti-polish-sentiment-in-europe", "stereotypes-of-polish-people"] description: "Stereotype of Eastern Europeans" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_plumber" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Stereotype of Eastern Europeans ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Polish_Plumber.jpg" caption="Polish tourism poster featuring a Polish plumber. Caption: "I remain in Poland, do come over ''en masse''.""] ::

The Polish plumber and the Polish builder are stereotypes of cheap labour coming from Central and Eastern Europe to work in Western Europe. They are both a symbol of the fear that cheap Eastern European labour is threatening the jobs of Western Europeans and a symbol of foreign labour being more affordable and reliable. NOTOC

Origin

In 2004, a European Union law known as the Bolkestein Directive was drafted, which aimed at establishing a single market for services in the EU which would allow workers to move freely between countries of the European Union. The term "Polish plumber" was used in an article in Charlie Hebdo in 2004, but became popular after French politician Philippe de Villiers used it while campaigning against the EU law:

In politics

The Swiss Socialist Party campaigned in favour of the free circulation of people (in the context of European bilateral deals) and also featured a character, with the slogan "Plumbers of all countries, unite!", a reference to the famous slogan from the Communist Manifesto.

An estimated two million workers from Eastern and Central Europe arrived in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2007, half of them were Polish. The stereotype of the Polish plumber was cited as a factor in the referendum that led to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Poster

A Polish tourism board used the stereotype in a humorous poster in 2005 inviting the French to come visit Poland. The designer of the poster was nominated in 2005 for the title "European of the Year" in category "Campaigner of the Year" and the model, got his "15 minutes of fame" and a brief career boost.

References

References

  1. Quick, Vanessa. (September 2007). "Beneficial immigration".
  2. (2005-06-21). "'Polish plumber' beckons French". [[BBC]].
  3. (2013-10-28). "Comment le plombier polonais a fait voter "non" au référendum de 2005".
  4. (2017). "Les détachés de l'agriculture intensive". Plein Droit.
  5. ''Villiers : "La grande triche du oui"'', Interview de Philippe de Villiers, ''[[Le Figaro]]'', 15 mars 2005
  6. (2005-08-22). "Libre circulation: Plombiers de tous les pays, unissez-vous!".
  7. Adam Taylor. (2016-06-28). "Britain's 850,000 Polish citizens face backlash after Brexit vote". Washington Post.
  8. Ted Jeory. (2016-06-24). "Brexit: Polish builders defiant but admit future is 'uncertain' after EU referendum vote". Independent.
  9. Paola Buonadonna. (2016-06-03). "First they came for the Polish plumbers: a dystopian view of life post-Brexit". The Daily Telegraph.
  10. Lauren Frayer. (2016-05-14). "If Britain Leaves The EU, What Happens To The 'Polish Plumber?'". NPR.
  11. Elisabeth Braw. (2016-02-25). "'Brexit' debate: Could Britain get by without the 'Polish Plumber'?". Christian Science Monitor.
  12. (2005-06-21). "'Polish plumber' beckons French". [[BBC News]].
  13. (2005-06-29). "France's new media star? The Polish plumber.".
  14. [http://www.tur-info.pl/p/ak_id,3252,,andrzej_kozlowski,europejczyk_roku,za_hydraulika,turowski,pot,poit,hydraulik.html "Andrzej Kozłowski nominowany na Europejczyka Roku!"]
  15. [https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/polski-hydraulik-w-paryzu-reklamuje-uroki-swego-kraju "Polski hydraulik w Paryżu reklamuje uroki swego kraju"]

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anti-immigration-politics-in-europepolitics-of-europetourism-in-polandfrance–poland-relations2005-in-france2005-in-polandanti-polish-sentiment-in-europestereotypes-of-polish-people