1980 Lublin strikes
The 1980 Lublin strikes (also known as Lublin July,
Background
On January 1, 1980,
In the following weeks, numerous price increases of several products were announced, such as gasoline, cigarettes, soft drinks, and then, on June 30, the nation was shocked to find out that a major increase in meat prices (up to 60%) had been announced.
On July 1, the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party gathered in Warsaw, but the protests were not even mentioned during talks. Meanwhile, major factories in Warsaw joined the strike - Warsaw Steelworks, Mera-Centrum and Polkolor, as well as the cotton plant Stella in Żyrardów.
Lublin strikes
First strike in the area of Lublin took place on July 8, 1980, in the State Aviation Works PZL in Świdnik, in the Section W-340 of the factory. It was then that the Lublin July began, which later sparked the famous August 1980 wave of strikes in the cities on the Baltic coast.[6] Norbert Wojciechowski, former Solidarity activist and spokesperson of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin says that the collapse of the Communist system of Poland did not start in the Gdańsk Shipyard in August 1980, but a month earlier in Lublin and Świdnik.[7] Today, the factory in Świdnik is considered as the primary symbol of the social revolt of the year 1980, which led to the rise of Solidarity.[8]
According to the strikers, it all began because of the price of pork chop dinner in the factory's canteen. On July 8, one worker noticed that overnight it had been increased by 80% - from
On the next day, during the meeting of the Politburo in Warsaw, Edward Gierek assured the
On July 12, the Świdnik factory, after its demands had been met, ended the strike,
Other locations
Even though the official mass-media did not inform about the strikes, events of Lublin became known in the area. Soon afterwards, strikes began in such towns, as
On July 18, one of sections of the Stalowa Wola Steelworks joined the strike, which spread across other sections. According to Mariusz Mucha, a journalist associated with Solidarity, altogether in the area of Lublin, 177 factories, with 80 000 employees joined the strike.[7] The demands dealt with wage increases and the cancellation of the price rises. The government granted wage increases: 10% on average, sometimes as high as 20%. Furthermore, the increases were sometimes granted in advance to strikers in order to calm the movement.[5]
It must be mentioned, that during the strikes, the workers did not repeat mistakes of the
Aftermath
In most cases, the government was willing to resolve the strikes in favor of the workers, by "buying them off", so long as the strikers did not demand independent trade unions.
The events of Lublin in July 1980 brought a final break in the official, Communist so-called "propaganda of success" that systematically exaggerated the country's economic performance to keep the population in line. Even though they did not result in the creation of an independent trade union, they generated momentum for more strikes which soon spread throughout the entire country - on July 23, a strike began in the
See also
- Poznań 1956 protests
- Polish 1970 protests
- Jastrzębie-Zdrój 1980 strikes
References
- ^ a b c Warsaw Voice, Solidarity 1980-81
- ^ Tourist Information Centre in Lublin, Brief History of Lublin Archived 2009-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d “To the creation of Solidarity - Chronology of 1980 in Poland”, by Krzysztof Kosinski, Warsaw 1998 Archived 2011-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Poland 1980: Lessons still valid for the struggles of the world proletariat "On July 1, 1980, after a major increase in meat prices [up to 60%]"
- ^ a b Poland 1980: Lessons still valid for the struggles of the world proletariat
- ^ Swidnik on-line, History of the town Archived 2008-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d "Such was Lublin July, by Mariusz Mucha. Kurier Lubelski, July 8, 2004". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ Polish Radio, The Power of Radio Archived 2011-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d 25th anniversary of the Lublin July'80, by Maria Wrzeszcz, Niedziela Catholic Magazine
- ^ Poland Under Communism By A. Kemp-Welch, page 233
- ^ Solidarity and Contention By Maryjane Osa, page 143
- ^ Prelude to Solidarity By Keith John Lepak, page 199
- ^ [POLAND: UNREST IN LUBLIN. Created: 7/18/1980]
- ^ Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century, page 20
- ^ Solidarity and the Politics of Anti-politics, page 79