(1971-1980)')">
SUCCESSIVE STRIKES AND FORMATION OF NSZZ SOLIDARITY (1980)
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| Announcement of striking
committee about founda- tion of the free trade unions. |
On 1st July 1980 the price rise of meat was introduced . In that situation
people started to strike. Workmen demanded the increase of their salaries.
After satisfying them, strikes finished but in other factories there started
new ones. In some places like: Ursus, Swidnik the workmen chose their own
representation - strike committee or workmen commission. In Lublin there
was almost a general strike, fortunately on July 19th Mieczyslaw Jagielski,
representative of the government came to an agreement with strikers. Gierek's
team did not decide to use force. Nowhere did Militia detachments attack.
At the beginning of August the situation seemed better. Gierek went
to Crimea to rest.
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| Lech Walesa and Mieczyslaw
Jagielski after coming to an agreement. |
On August 14th workmen of Gdansk Shipyard started to strike. A strike
committee was founded with Lech Walesa as a leader. Strike moved across
the city. Striking crews sent their representatives to the shipyard, where
on August 16th Interworks Strike Committee (Miedzyzakladowy Komitet Strajkowy)
was created. Lech Walesa was in charge of it. They worked out the list
of 21 postulates. Among them there was also a demand of foundation of Free
Trade Unions. On the gate of the shipyard there was a pope's portrait.
Workmen were praying, priests said the masses.
On August 18th the wave of strikes arrived in Szczecin. There also
Interworks Strike Committee (MKS) was founded. Marian Jurczyk was in charge
if it. They made a list with the same postulates, which workmen from Gdansk
had.
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| A broad- casting sta-
tion used to emit the auditions of Solidarity, found in Warsaw by SB. |
In Jacek Kuron's house there was a strike information centre. Information
about each strike and demands were passed on there. That news Kuron sent
to the West. In that way people could find out about events in the North
of Poland.
On August 20th the appeal of sixty four widely respected men appeared.
It called society to keep the moderation and the government to start the
negotiations with MKS. Since August 24th initiators of the appeal have
been in the commission of experts of Gdansk MKS with Tadeusz Mazowiecki
and Bronislaw Geremek as the leaders.
Actions taken by the authorities were unsuccessful. On August 24th
during IV meeting of KC PZPR there were dismissed some of the members of
PZPR management: Babiuch, Lukaszewicz, Szydlak, Zandarowski, Wrzaszczyk
and Pyka. Jozef Pinkowski was a new prime minister and Tadeusz Grabski
was a new vice-premier. Stefan Olszowski was a new member of Political
Office and a secretary of KC.
On August 21st Kazimierz Barcikowski started to negotiate with MKS
in Szczecin and on August 23rd Jagielski negotiated with MKS in Gdansk.
On August 26th people in Wroclaw started a new strike. There also MKS was
founded. It supported twenty one Gdansk postulates. There were also strikes
in a lot of different towns and cities. On August 29th the miners started
their strike. Their MKS was in Jastrzeb.
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| Lech Walesa and Mieczyslaw
Jagielski are signing an agreement. |
On August 30th in Szczecin an agreement was signed , also on the same
day in Gdansk Walesa and Jagielski came to an agreement. Workmen were allowed
to create Niezalezny Samorzadny Zwiazek Zawodowy (NSZZ) "Solidarity", which
was achieved on November 10th.
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| Leonid Brezhnew (left)
welcoming Stanislaw Kania (right) to his Crimean retreat. |
Jagielski agreed to set free the arrested members of the opposition,
begin the economic reforms and build the monument of December events' victims.
On August 31st Walesa and Jagielski signed the agreement, which was shown
on TV. Gierek resigned and Stanislaw Kania was chosen for the post of the
first secretary of KC PZPR .