The
Upper Silesia 1980 strikes
were widespread strikes, which took place mostly in the
Upper Silesian
mining cities
Jastrz?bie-Zdroj
,
Wodzisław ?l?ski
and
Ruda ?l?ska
and its surroundings, during late August and early September 1980. They forced the Government of
People's Republic of Poland
to sign the last of three agreements establishing the
Solidarity trade union
. Earlier, agreements had been signed in
Gda?sk
and
Szczecin
. The
Jastrz?bie Agreement
, signed on September 3, 1980, ended Saturday and Sunday work for miners, a concession that Government leaders later said cut deeply into Poland's export earnings.
[1]
Background
[
edit
]
On August 14, 1980, workers of the
Vladimir Lenin Shipyard in Gda?sk
began a strike, demanding not only an increase in salaries, but also rehiring of
Anna Walentynowicz
and
Lech Wał?sa
, as well as the according of respect to workers' rights and other social concerns. Furthermore, they called for the legalization of independent trade unions.
[2]
A
Strike Committee
, led by Wał?sa, was organized and the workers did not leave the shipyard, deciding to stay there for the night. Later, on the
Strike Committee
was turned into the
City Strike Committee
, also headed by Wał?sa.
In the following days, the strike spread to a growing number of factories all across the country, with numerous
Inter-Enterprise Strike Committees
(MKS) created in
Szczecin
,
Wrocław
,
Wałbrzych
, and other cities. By the end of August 1980, the protests reached Upper Silesian coal mines. The center of the protests in Upper Silesia was the
Manifest Lipcowy Coal Mine
in Jastrz?bie-Zdroj, where the strike broke out on August 28.
[3]
In August 1980, this mine employed some 10,000 people.
The strikes in Upper Silesia
[
edit
]
The strike in Jastrz?bie began when 1,000 of the staff of the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine did not begin the night shift, spurred by the news from Gda?sk, conveyed to them by Stefan Palka, future leader of the strike. According to the witnesses, right before going under the ground, someone in the crowd yelled: "Other mines in the area are already striking, what are we waiting for?"
[4]
This information was false, but the strike nevertheless began. Within the next few hours, a Strike Committee was elected, headed by Palka. It demanded talks with the director of the mine, Władysław Duda. The "arrogant" Duda agreed, but during negotiations, he started insulting the workers, which heated up the situation. Therefore, he was asked to leave and talks were terminated.
[5]
The strike in the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine was directly connected with catastrophic situation of the miners and poor working conditions. As the strikers recollected in 2008,(please check the year) at the beginning, few of them thought about politics. They complained about lack of gloves, work boots and basic tools.
[6]
They also claim that the strike could have been broken on the second day, had it not been for their wives and children, since units of the
ZOMO
surrounded the mine, and did not let anybody in and out. Only children with food parcels were allowed to come close to the fence. "Their support was like a shot of adrenaline to us, we knew that we were not alone" - recollected a miner 28 years later.
[7]
A few hours after the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine, the
XXX-lecia PRL
mine also began the strike.
Since all mass-media was firmly controlled by the government, the workers of the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine turned for help to a local Roman Catholic church. Their delegation came to the church on August 29, at 6:30 in the morning, and asked the parish priest, Rev. Bernard Czernecki, to inform the faithful about the protest. Czernecki, as well as all local priests, agreed, and during Mass, they told all worshipers about the strike, promising all the help they needed.
[8]
Also, the priests handed leaders of the strike their
rosaries
. These can be seen in archival photos of the Jastrz?bie Agreement negotiations, as workers wore them on their necks.
Interfactory Strike Committee
[
edit
]
The next morning, a mixed, government-party delegation came to the mine and tried to convince the workers that the strike was senseless. The talks were fruitless, and in the meantime, further local factories joined the protest. On August 30, the first Upper Silesian
Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee
was created, initially with 20 members,
[9]
based in the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine. By September 2, the Committee gathered more than fifty striking factories, including, among others, such companies, as:
[10]
- Manifest Lipcowy
coal mine in Jastrz?bie,
- Borynia
coal mine
in Jastrz?bie,
Mszana
,
?wierklany
and
Pawłowice
,
- Jastrz?bie
coal mine in Jastrz?bie, Mszana,
- Moszczenica
coal mine
[
pl
]
in
Moszczenica, Jastrz?bie-Zdroj
,
- ZMP
coal mine in
?ory
-
Roj
,
- Suszec
coal mine in
Suszec
,
- XXX-lecia PRL
coal mine in
Pawłowice ?l?skie
- Rymer
coal mine in
Rybnik
-
Niedobczyce
,
- Anna
coal mine in
Wodzisław ?l?ski
-
Pszow
,
- 1 Maja
coal mine in
Wodzisław ?l?ski
-
Wilchwy
,
- Boleslaw Smialy
coal mine in
Łaziska Gorne
,
- Marcel
coal mine in Wodzisław ?l?ski -
Radlin
,
- Wujek
coal mine in
Katowice
-
Brynow
,
- Julian
coal mine in
Piekary ?l?skie
,
- Rydultowy
coal mine in Wodzisław ?l?ski - Rydułtowy,
- Piast
coal mine in
Bieru?
,
- Kaczyce
coal mine in
Kaczyce
,
- Slask
coal mine in
Ruda ?l?ska
- Kochłowice,
- Janina
coal mine in
Libi??
,
- Staszic
coal mine in Katowice -
Giszowiec
,
- Polska
coal mine in
?wi?tochłowice
- Zgoda,
- Wieczorek
coal mine in Katowice - Janow,
- Halemba
coal mine in Ruda ?l?ska - Halemba,
- Zabrze
coal mine in
Zabrze
- Bielszowice,
- Katowice
coal mine in Katowice - Bogucice,
- Brzeszcze
coal mine in
Brzeszcze
and
Czechowice-Dziedzice
,
- Pokoj
coal mine in Ruda ?l?ska - Nowy Bytom,
- Nowy Wirek
coal mine in Ruda ?l?ska - Kochłowice.
Their demands included abolition of the four-shift work system in the mining industry as "detrimental to the family" and the introduction of Saturdays and Sundays off. The demand to establish free trade unions, based on the
21 demands of MKS
, was also added
[11]
and
Stefan Palka
became the leader of the protest.
[12]
However, Jastrz?bie's workers added to the Gda?sk demands several specific issues associated with the situation in the mining industry.
[13]
Apart from the mines mentioned above, several other companies joined the strike - The Enterprise of Mining Works,
Voivodeship
's Communications Authority, Communal Services,
local mail offices
, as well as teachers from city's schools. According to Jarosław Neja, a historian from the
Institute of National Remembrance
, in late August and early September 1980, 272 Upper Silesian factories went on strike, with around 900 000 employees. First strike in that area took place in the FAZOS company in
Tarnowskie Gory
on August 21, 1980 and lasted for three days.
[14]
Negotiations and agreement
[
edit
]
The negotiations started on September 2, 1980. Delegation of the government was headed by Deputy Prime Minister
Aleksander Kopec
(who later signed the agreement), the strikers were headed by
Jarosław Sienkiewicz
, chairman of the
Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee
. Workers of the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine recollect that in early days of September they doubted achieving a success, as a few days earlier, strikers in Gda?sk and Szczecin had signed their agreements and the miners were left alone. "We wanted our protest to be highlighted in the mass-media, especially TV, but we were ignored" - said Leopold Sobczy?ski of the
Manifest Lipcowy
mine.
[15]
Talks with the government were very heated and lasted fifteen hours. Finally, the Jastrz?bie Agreement, the third of the 1980 agreements between Polish workers and the government, was signed on September 3, at 5:40 am. Furthermore, agreements were signed in other striking centers of Upper Silesia and
Zagł?bie
-
Fabryka Samochodow Małolitra?owych
in
Tychy
,
Katowice Steel Mill
in
D?browa Gornicza
, in Bytom,
Siemianowice ?l?skie
, and Tarnowskie Gory. Therefore, six independent
Inter-Enterprise Founding Committees
were created in the Upper Silesia-Zagł?bie region, they were united in July 1981.
[16]
The
Jastrz?bie Agreement
was the last of three agreements establishing the independent Solidarity trade union, with earlier ones having been signed in Gda?sk and Szczecin. Apart from creation of Solidarity, it ended all Saturday and Sunday work for miners. The three agreements collectively were called the "new social contract".
[17]
Known collectively as the
Gda?sk Accords
, they contained a number of state concessions, including the formation of independent trade unions, wage increases, an increase in the meat supply, and increased access to the mass media by both Solidarity and the Catholic Church.
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
The New York Times
, "Thousands Strike Major Coal Mine in Poland", by John Tagliabue
- ^
William D Perdue, Paradox of Change: The Rise and Fall of Solidarity in the New Poland p.39
- ^
Warsaw Voice, Solidarity 1980-81
Archived
2012-09-17 at
archive.today
- ^
Jastrz?bie 1980 events - chronology
- ^
Jastrz?bie 1980 events - chronology
- ^
Remembering the women that saved the strike
- ^
Remembering the women that saved the strike
- ^
Bytom - our city, Jastrz?bie Agreement
- ^
Commemoration event, official webpage of the city of Jastrz?bie Zdroj
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Jastrz?bie Agreement, September 3, 1980
- ^
Warsaw Voice, Solidarity 1980-81
Archived
2012-09-17 at
archive.today
- ^
Commemoration event, official webpage of the city of Jastrz?bie-Zdroj
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Europe Since 1945 By Bernard A. Cook, page 995
- ^
Bytom - our city, Jastrz?bie Agreement
- ^
Bytom - our city, Jastrz?bie Agreement
- ^
Warsaw Voice, Solidarity 1980-81
Archived
2012-09-17 at
archive.today
- ^
Constitutionalism and Rights by Louis, page 302
- ^
The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine, page 138
External links
[
edit
]