The celebration of the 44th anniversary of the signing of the August Agreements and the founding of NSZZ “Solidarity”.
The celebration of the 44th anniversary of the signing of the August Agreements and the founding of NSZZ “Solidarity” took place in the BHP hall in Gdańsk on 31 August 2024.
- Although the official founding of NSZZ “Solidarity” did not take place until November 1980, it was in fact established here. Through the great strike movement that began in mid-July in Lublin, Świdnik, through the strike in the shipyard and other plants that joined it, resulting in the formation of the Intercompany Strike Committee and, in turn, the Szczecin, Gdańsk, Jastrzębie and Dąbrowa agreements. All of this combined to create “Solidarity”- said the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, also emphasizing how significant ”Solidarity” really is:
– “Solidarity” does not want to rule, “Solidarity” upholds fundamental values. Those stemming from Catholic teachings, from the Decalogue, the inherent right of every human being to dignity and appropriate living conditions.
In his speech, the President of the „Solidarity” trade union Piotr Duda said:
- The events of August 1980 are among the most important in the history of our beloved homeland. We cannot allow anyone to write Poland's history for us. For we are hearing that it was not Solidarity, but the tearing down of the Berlin Wall that led to the fact that we live in a free, democratic Europe. Fortunately, now we have an ally, which is the IPN, and together we can make our beautiful history well known.
The next part of the ceremony took place at the historic Gate No. 2 of the Gdańsk shipyard. Flowers were laid by the President of the Republic of Poland and IPN President Karol Nawrocki, together with the Director of the IPN Branch Office in Gdańsk, Marek Szymaniak Ph.D., and the Director of the Office of the IPN President,Jaroslaw Dębowski. The event was also attended by Andrzej Gwiazda and Joanna Duda-Gwiazda, among others.
The celebration of the Day of Solidarity and Freedom culminated with a Mass at St. Brigid's Basilica.
The 44th anniversary of the signing of the August Agreements and the establishment of the Solidarity Trade Union were celebrated in Szczecin on 30 August 2024. The ceremony was attended by Karol Nawrocki, Ph.D., the President of the Institute of National Remembrance.
The ceremonies were held by the plaque at the Szczecin Shipyard Gate, IPN President Karol Nawrocki said:
- The August Agreements are the most important testimony of civic thinking about Poland in the 20th century. However, they are not just the domain of the past. They are the domain of the present and the future. Owing to the sensitivity of the people connected with Solidarity, so many important issues are being raised with regard to the Polish economy, the labor code and many sectors of our social life.
President Nawrocki also noted that the 36 Szczecin postulates, the agreements signed 44 years ago in Szczecin, the Gdańsk agreements, the 21 Gdańsk postulates, but also the fact that the images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Polish Pope John Paul II hung on this gate next to the national colors, prove that this is a union with clearly defined goals and an understanding of the responsibility that is associated with freedom.
Solidarity is not only the past, it is also a great commitment to the present and the future - he stressed.
***
A previously unimaginable euphoria had reigned in Poland since the summer of 1980. In the autumn of 1980 the Independent-Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity was registered: the first independent trade union in Poland since the end of World War II. Its membership grew to 10 million – one-third of all Poles! Solidarity became a peaceful, nationwide, pro-democracy social movement.
Early July 1980 saw an increase in prices of meat and meat products sold in stores and factory canteens. That triggered spontaneous strikes in workplaces in the south and east of the country, mostly in the Lublin region. The protests quickly subsided after the authorities’ negotiations with the staff on strike. The latter were promised that their economic demands would be met.
Meanwhile, a strike broke out at the Gdańsk Shipyard on 14 August 1980 in defence of a dismissed WZZ Wybrzeże activist, Anna Walentynowicz. Called off after two days, it was then continued as a solidarity strike at the insistence of delegates from other workplaces which supported the shipyard strikers’ demands.
The protesters established the Inter-House Strike Committee, which formulated 21 postulates, with the most important ones regarding the establishment of truly free and independent trade unions and the commemoration of the victims of the December 1970 massacre. The protest was led by Lech Wałęsa.
Pressured by the strikes, the authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland agreed to the establishment of free trade unions.
The agreement signed on 11 September 1980 with the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee at the Katowice Steelworks in Dąbrowa Górnicza (known as the Katowice agreement) guaranteed the realization of the Gdańsk accord and contributed to the emergence of a free trade union movement across Poland.
The workers’ protests were supported by members of the intelligentsia, who later became the backbone of the emerging movement. “Solidarity”’s strength consisted in cooperation between workers, farmers, and intellectuals. The scale and scope of the social protest in the summer of 1980 forced the communist authorities to make concessions.
30 August saw the signing of the agreement in Szczecin, 31 August in Gdańsk, 3 September in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, and 11 September in Dąbrowa Górnicza. Seeing the scale of the strikes, the communists seemed to have succumbed, at the same time preparing to quash social resistance. The Gdańsk agreement contributed to the establishment of truly free trade unions, independent of the communist authorities.
More:
Exhibition “Turning point. August 1980 and Solidarity” – available for download
Solidarity: I was born in Poland, in 1980
31 August 1980 - the birth of "Solidarity"
COLLECTED CONTENT: Solidarity