The Solidarity Movement: an anti-bureaucratic social movement
Greetings history enthusiasts. I have written this newest edition blog post to elucidate on the Solidarity Movement, a protest that took place in Poland in the 1980s. A non-violent, anti-communist social movement that peaked at 9.4 million members of the union. This blog post will discuss the background, perspectives, violated human rights, and comparison with similar protests. I put forward my thoughts on how the protest was not effective in the long run by discussing both sides of its outcome.
What was the Solidarity Movement? Any historical context?
In the 1970s the food prices in Poland were drastically increased while wages were stagnant leading groups like KOR created underground networks to monitor the government.
On 7th August 1980, Anna Walentynowicz was fired from Gdańsk Shipyard due to action in an illegal trade union. This led to workers protesting for Anna and demanding her return transforming a strike on bread and butter into a solidarity strike.
The causes of the protest include but are not limited to:
- High food prices
- Low worker wages
- Harassment of women in the workplace
- Wrongful termination
Furthermore, the Polish communist government attempted to destroy the union in 1981 using martial law as a result of the protests. In Poland, trade unions are controlled by the ruling party with no independent parties permitted. When the workers of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk went on strike, the strike was considered illegal because it was called by an independent group of workers and not an authorized trade union. Solidarity was then formed as the first Polish labor trade set. The union promoted workers/labor rights and social change in Poland against its communist government(“Solidarity | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica”). Polish statesman Lech Welesa was the co-founder of Solidarity alongside Anna. While opposing parties such as General Wojciech Jaruzelski, prime minister of Poland from 1981–1985, arrested 38 regional delegates during the communist era(“Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski | Polish General | Britannica”).
Was the protest successful? What were the outcomes?
Based on the outcomes of the Solidarity Movement there are different perspectives on whether it benefited society or not. Some individuals believe that the protest contributed greatly to the fall of communism in Poland as re-election occurred with the co-founder of Solidarity, Lech Welesa, who became the prime minister(AP Archive). This helped further improve the rights of Polish workers. Despite the movement not preventing the implication of martial law, it did help shed light on how bankrupt the communist system is resulting in its transformation. On the other hand, individuals argue that Solidarity itself did not throw communism and was a contribution to it. Furthermore, Solidarity was only successful due to the fundamental changes in Soviet foreign policy under Gorbachev which could have made Solidarity oblivion(“Opinion | The Rise and Fall of Solidarity (Published 2011)”).
Violated Human Rights? How was the worker’s life impacted?
As a result of the incident in Poland many human rights as per the UDHR were violated(“Universal Declaration of Human Rights”):
- Article 13 — “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state”
As a result of the protests, the government implemented martial law which violates the right to free movement. This is a negative right as the government needs to step back and remove this law for the freedom of its people.
2. Article 23 — “Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests”
The Polish government attempted to end the Solidarity union which violates the ability to join trade unions as a result of the protest. However, this is a negative right as the government needs to step back and allow the existence of these unions to form.
3. Article 24 — “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”
The government was making the Polish workers continue their job on a Saturday which violates the limitation on the working hours in Poland. This is a positive right as the government needs to step in and change the working hours for the Polish workers giving enough rest and leisure.
4. Article 25 — “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”
The prices of food in Poland was drastically increased while workers still suffered from the minimum wage. His goes against the right to an adequate standard of living that includes food. This is a positive right as the government needs to step in and control the prices of food.
What does this tell us about Polish Culture?
Based on the protests there are quite a few observations one can make about the Polish culture. Solidarity stresses the importance of taking a non-violent approach to solving an issue which was seen throughout its protests. The struggle of Solidarity is a strong example of political non-violence despite the actions taken by the government. The communist mindset resulted in imprisoned members and the use of force however the members of Solidarity did not rebel in a violent manner. Achieving a goal to get justice for workers was looked at from a much more ethical standpoint rather than objective. Additionally, the logo of Solidarity was created by Jerzy Janiszewski in 1980 to represent united individuals which were members of the trade union. Unity and peace seemed to be the key themes for the movement resulting in improve worker's rights(W. Julian Korab-Karpowicz).
“We hold our heads high, despite the price we have paid, because freedom is priceless — Lech Welesa (“TOP 25 QUOTES BY LECH WALESA (of 89) | A-Z Quotes”)
What were some similar protests? Was there a different approach in the strikes?
Similar protests also took places such as The Haymarket Affair and The Yellow Vest Movement. The Haymarket Affair took place in 1886 in the United States while The Yellow Vest Movement was fairly recent in France. These protests had similar causes as they were related to worker's rights such as working time or high prices for products. Both protests related to violent retaliation from the military or government while having a nonviolent approach from the workers in the Haymarket Affair’s case(Charlotte Hilton Andersen). This can be compared to the Solidarity Movement as they sparked for similar reasons and had a non-violent approach.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Solidarity Movement was a prominent protest taken place in history to promote non-violence and fight for worker’s rights. Polish culture can be explored and understood through the citizen's approach to overcoming communism led by Lech Welesa and Anna Walentynowicz.
