In the courtyard of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, workers gathered in August 1980, initially protesting the dismissal of crane operator Anna Walentynowicz and rising prices for basic goods. However, a broader demand quickly took shape behind the strike – the right of workers to organize outside the control of the communist state.
The strike began on August 14. Electrician Lech Wałęsa took the lead, while groups of workers from enterprises in different parts of Poland joined those from Gdańsk. The Interfactory Strike Committee formulated 21 demands, including the creation of independent trade unions, the right to strike, the release of political prisoners and greater freedom of speech.
From the Gdańsk Agreement to registration
On August 31, 1980, government representatives and the strikers signed the Gdańsk Agreement. It recognized the right to independent trade unions – a concession without precedent in the communist Eastern Bloc.
On September 17, representatives of the strike committees created a unified national organization officially named the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity.” A week later, on September 24, Lech Wałęsa personally submitted the registration documents to the Warsaw Voivodeship Court. The organization’s legal status was finally approved by Poland’s Supreme Court on November 10, 1980.
“We have an independent, self-governing trade union!”Wałęsa’s exclamation became one of the symbols of the events. “Solidarity” did not remain merely a trade union structure. By 1981, it had attracted around 10 million members – workers, intellectuals and representatives of various social groups.
A movement against communist rule
The organization’s scale turned “Solidarity” into the strongest social center outside the official state system. The communist authorities and the leadership of the Soviet Union viewed the movement as a threat to Poland’s political order.
On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law. “Solidarity” was banned, thousands of its activists were detained, and the movement continued underground. Despite the repression, it retained its influence and in 1989 took part in the Round Table talks, which led to partially free elections and the end of communist rule in Poland.
Lech Wałęsa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. The history of “Solidarity” remains connected not only with labor rights but also with the peaceful political transition in Central and Eastern Europe.
Sources: history.com, rferl.org, dzieje.pl