Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

A rise in food prices provided the immediate impetus
for the strike and some of the strikers’ demands were
pragmatic. Others, however, went much further than
the terms of pay dispute and struck at the nature
of Communist rule. The striking workers demanded
the establishment of free trade unions, the abolition
of censorship and the release of all political prisoners.
The strike leader was Lech Wałęsa, an electrician by trade
and a union leader and long-time political dissident.
Sympathetic strikes broke out in other industries and
although the government quickly agreed to significant
pay increases, the strike did not stop. The Communist
government then agreed to implement the twenty-one
demands – a concession with immediate and long-term
consequences.
The practical result of the acceptance of the demands
was the foundation of the independent free trade
union Solidarność (Solidarity), which grew to more than
10 million members and became a massive and broadbased
social movement. It was active for more than a
year until December 1981 when it was outlawed by the
introduction of martial law in Poland under pressure
from the Soviet Union.
However, Solidarity had gained too much momentum
to be suppressed and survived throughout the 1980s
as an underground organization. Finally in 1989, their
team of negotiators held the Round Table Talks with the
550 Twenty-One demands, Gdańsk, August 1980
� The board on which the workers wrote their twenty-one demands.
American President George Bush and First Lady Barbara
Bush were among those who travelled to Poland to meet
Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa. (top)
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also visited Gdańsk
to meet the Solidarity leadership. (bottom) �
weakening Polish government. The government was
forced into concessions which led to the first democratic
elections in the Communist bloc.
Subsequently, the elections became an impetus for other
countries behind the Iron Curtain to fight for freedom
and gave momentum to the collapse of the Soviet empire
in 1989. In retrospect, the success of the Gdańsk strike in
1980 marked a turning point in the overthrowing of the
Communist system.
Listed on the Register is the actual board on which
the striking workers wrote their twenty-one demands in
August 1980, together with other written, printed, recorded
and photographed material which forms much of the
archive of Solidarity from August 1980 to December 1981.