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Poland The Birth of Solidarity
When the government enacted new food price increases in
the
summer of 1980, a wave of labor unrest swept the country.
Partly
moved by local grievances, the workers of the Lenin
Shipyard in
Gdansk went on strike in mid-August. Led by electrician
and
veteran strike leader Lech Walesa, the strikers occupied
the
shipyard and issued far-reaching demands for labor reform
and
greater civil rights. The workers' top priority was
establishment
of a trade union independent of communist party control
and
possessing the legal right to strike. Buoyed by a wave of
popular
support and formally acknowledged by other striking
enterprises
as their leader, the Gdansk workers held out until the
government
capitulated. The victorious strikers hailed the
Gdansk Agreement (see Glossary)
of August 31 as a veritable social contract,
authorizing citizens to introduce democratic change to the
extent possible within the confines of the communist system.
Solidarity, the free national trade union that arose
from the nucleus of the Lenin Shipyard strike was unlike anything
in the previous experience of Comecon nations. Although primarily
a labor movement led and supported by workers and
represented by
its charismatic chairman Walesa, Solidarity attracted a
diverse
membership that quickly swelled to 10 million people, or
more
than one of every four Poles. Because of its size and
massive
support, the organization assumed the stature of a
national
reform lobby. Although it disavowed overtly political
ambitions,
the movement became a de facto vehicle of opposition to
the
communists, who were demoralized but still in power. With
the
encouragement of Pope John Paul II, the church gave
Solidarity
vital material and moral support that further legitimized
it in
the eyes of the Polish population.
In the sixteen months following its initial strike,
Solidarity waged a difficult campaign to realize the
letter and
spirit of the Gdansk Agreement. This struggle fostered an
openness unprecedented in a communist East European
society.
Although the PZPR ousted Gierek as first secretary and
proclaimed
its willingness to cooperate with the fledgling union, the
ruling
party still sought to frustrate its rival and curtail its
autonomy in every possible way. In 1980-81, repeated
showdowns
between Solidarity and the party-state usually were
decided by
Solidarity's effective strikes. The movement spread from
industrial to agricultural enterprises with the founding
of Rural
Solidarity, which pressured the regime to recognize
private
farmers as the economic foundation of the country's
agricultural
sector.
Meanwhile, the persistence of Solidarity prompted
furious
objections from Moscow and other Comecon members, putting
Poland
under constant threat of invasion by its Warsaw Pact
allies. This
was the first time a ruling communist regime had accepted
organizations completely beyond the regime's control. It
was also
the first time an overwhelming majority of the workers
under such
a regime were openly loyal to an organization
fundamentally
opposed to everything for which the party stood. In 1981
an
estimated 30 percent of PZPR members also belonged to an
independent union.
In late 1981, the tide began to turn against the union
movement. In the midst of the virtual economic collapse of
the
country, many Poles lost the enthusiasm that had given
Solidarity
its initial impetus. The extremely heterogeneous movement
developed internal splits over personality and policy.
Walesa's
moderate wing emphasized nonpolitical goals, assuming that
Moscow
would never permit Poland to be governed by a group not
endorsed
by the Warsaw Pact. Walesa sought cooperation with the
PZPR to
prod the regime into reforms and avoid open confrontation
with
the Soviet Union. By contrast, the militant wing of
Solidarity
sought to destabilize the regime and force drastic change
through
wildcat strikes and demonstrations.
In 1981 the government adopted a harder line against
the
union, and General Wojciech Jaruzelski, commander in chief
of the
Polish armed forces, replaced Stanislaw Kania as party
leader in
October. Jaruzelski's very profession symbolized a tougher
approach to the increasingly turbulent political
situation. At
the end of 1981, the government broke off all negotiations
with
Solidarity, and tension between the antagonists rose
sharply.
Data as of October 1992
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