Jastrzębie-Zdrój 1980 strikes

The Jastrzębie-Zdrój 1980 strikes were widespread strikes, which took place mostly in the Upper Silesian mining city of Jastrzębie-Zdrój and its surroundings, in late August and early September 1980. They forced the Government of People's Republic of Poland to sign the last of three agreements establishing the Solidarity trade union. Earlier, agreements had been signed in Gdańsk and Szczecin. The Jastrzębie Agreement, signed on September 3, 1980, ended Saturday and Sunday work for miners, a concession that Government leaders later said cut deeply into Poland's export earnings.

On August 14, 1980, workers of the Vladimir Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk began a strike, demanding not only increase in salaries, but also rehiring of Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Wałęsa, as well as the according of respect to workers' rights and other social concerns. Furthermore, they called for the legalization of independent trade unions. A Strike Committee, led by Wałęsa, was organized and the workers did not leave the shipyard, deciding to stay there for the night. Later, on the Strike Committee was turned into the City Strike Committee, also headed by Wałęsa.

In the following days, the strike spread to a growing number of factories all over the country, with numerous Inter-Enterprise Strike Committees (MKS) created in Szczecin, Wrocław, Wałbrzych, and other cities. By the end of August 1980, the protests reached Upper Silesian coal mines. The center of the protests in Upper Silesia was the Manifest Lipcowy Coal Mine in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, where the strike broke out on August 28. In August 1980, this mine employed some 10,000 people.

The strike in Jastrzębie began when 1,000 of the staff of the Manifest Lipcowy mine did not begin the night shift, spurred by the news from Gdańsk, conveyed to them by Stefan Palka, future leader of the strike. According to the witnesses, right before going under the ground, someone in the crowd yelled: "Other mines in the area are already striking, what are we waiting for?" The information was untrue, but the strike nevertheless began. Within the next hours, a Strike Committee was elected, headed by Palka. It demanded talks with director of the mine, Władysław Duda. The "arrogant" Duda agreed, but during negotiations, he started insulting the workers, which heated up the situation. Therefore, he was asked to leave and talks were terminated.

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Wikipedia