Poland

Abstract

The 1980s in Poland started with the rise of Solidarity in the shipyards of Gdansk. It was an independent trade union, founded during the strike to protest a substantial increase in consumer prices. After negotiations, a protocol of understanding was signed between the government and Solidarity¹ as a trade union, in which the government pledged to seek input from Solidarity when decisions were made about the standard of living, and to institute a strike law. In return, Solidarity committed itself to refraining from becoming a political party and to acknowledging the leading role of the Party, and collective ownership as a basis of the socialist system. Finally, the government promised to carry out an economic reform (Glos Wybrzeza, 1 September 1980).²