THE BIRTH OF SOLIDARITY

THE BIRTH OF SOLIDARITY

The Birth of Solidarity A. Kemp-Welch Leeturer in Po/Wes University of Nottingham Second Edition Palgrave Macmillan

ISBN 978-1-349-21472-3 ISBN 978-1-349-21470-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-21470-9 A Kemp-Welch 1983, 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 2nd edition 1991 All rights reserved. For information, write: Scho1arly and Reference Division, St. Martin 's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 This edition first published in the Uni ted States of Americain 1991 ISBN 978-0-312-06021-3 First edition 1983 Second edition 1991 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The birth of Solidarity I [translated and edited by] A. Kemp-Welch. - 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographica1 references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-06021-3 I. NSZZ "Solidarnosc" (Labor organization)-history-sources. 2. Labor policy-poland-history-sources. 3. Collective bargaining-poland-history-sources. I. Kemp-Welch, A., 1949- HD8537.N783B57 1991 322'.2'09438-dc20 90--22924 CIP

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Contents Preface IX The Road to Gdansk 2 Negotiations 35 Prologue 35 First Meeting 39 Second Meeting 69 Third Meeting 88 Fourth Meeting Interlude: Delegates' Plenum, (30 August) 112 123 Final Meeting 130 3 Experts and the Working Group Tadeusz Kowalik 149 4 The Agreement 188 5 From Gdansk to Government 200 Notes to Negotiations 225 References 244 Appendix: Profiles 249 Index 257

Preface The first edition of this book focused on the negotiations between the Polish Government and the Strike Committee at the Gdansk Shipyard in August 1980 which led to the birth of Solidarity. These proceedings had been transcribed by Miroslaw Chojecki from tape-recordings and published by Solidarity to mark the first anniversary of the Gdansk Agreement. In translation, I adopted his rule that the text should stay as closely as possible to the original with 'only the most evident lapses in the use of language' corrected. This second edition, prepared to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Gdansk Agreement, is enlarged in three main ways. The translation of negotiations has been extended to cover a sampie of the strike delegates' plenum, in chaotic session throughout the talks; we have included a section from the climax of negotiations when workers looked ahead to the political landscape once an Agreement had been reached and began to plan the Solidarity stage to follow. Secondly, Professor Kowalik has extended his important memoire on the röle of experts in Gdansk, who met in private between the plenary negotiations. He adds an enlightened section on the economic demands, particularly in the light of subsequent criticism by the communist authorities. Finally, a new chapter takes Solidarity from Gdansk in 1980 to Government in 1989. It suggests that in addition to the continuity ofpersonalities (such as Wal~sa and Mazowiecki) and procedure (there are strong paralleis between the techniques used in Gdansk and those that brought the Government into being), there is a significant recurrence of underlying ideas. As before, I am deeply grateful for discussions with three Warsaw friends, Ania Dodziuk, Janek Litynski and Helena Luczywo. Theyare greatly responsible for the transformation of Poland but not for any errors in my book. A.K-W. 31 August 1990