What is the name of the Polish trade union founded in September 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard that was originally led by Lech Wałęsa?
"Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; born 29 September 1943) is a retired Polish politician and labour activist. He co-founded and headed Solidarity (""Solidarność""), the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. While working at the Lenin Shipyard (now Gdańsk Shipyard), Wałęsa, an electrician, became a trade-union activist, for which he was persecuted by the Communist authorities, placed under surveillance, fired in 1976, and arrested several times. In August 1980 he was instrumental in political negotiations that led to the ground-breaking Gdańsk Agreement between striking"
"on Christian ethics and Catholic social teachings, works to protect workers' interests and to fulfill their material, social and cultural aspirations."" The European Solidarity Centre, a museum and library devoted to the history of Solidarity and other opposition movements of the Eastern Bloc, opened in Gdańsk on August 31, 2014. History of Solidarity The history of Solidarity (, pronounced ), a Polish non-governmental trade union, began on August 14, 1980, at the Lenin Shipyards (now Gdańsk Shipyards) at its founding by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country."
"people arrested after the 1976 labor strikes and to their families. In June 1978 he became an activist of the underground Free Trade Unions of the Coast (""Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża""). On 14 August 1980, another rise in food prices led to a strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, of which Wałęsa was one of the instigators. Wałęsa scaled the shipyard fence and quickly became one of the strike leaders. The strike inspired other similar strikes in Gdańsk, which then spread across Poland. Wałęsa headed the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee, coordinating the workers at Gdańsk and at 20 other plants"
"in the region. On 31 August the government, represented by Mieczysław Jagielski, signed an accord (the Gdańsk Agreement) with the Strike Coordinating Committee. The agreement granted the Lenin Shipyard workers the right to strike and permitted them to form an independent trade union. The Strike Coordinating Committee legalized itself as the National Coordinating Committee of the ""Solidarność"" (Solidarity) Free Trade Union, and Wałęsa was chosen as chairman of the Committee. The Solidarity trade union quickly grew, ultimately claiming over 10 million members—more than a quarter of Poland's population. Wałęsa's role in the strike, in the negotiations, and in the newly"
"Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (or ""Inter-Factory Strike Committee"", , MKS) was an action strike committee formed in Gdańsk Shipyard, People's Republic of Poland on 16 August 1980. It was led by Lech Wałęsa and others and is famous for issuing the 21 demands of MKS on 17 August, that eventually led to the Gdańsk Agreement and creation of Solidarity. The widespread strikes of 1980 were far from being the first clashes between the ruling party and the working class in Poland after World War II. Despite having a ""socialist"" government, the elite of the Polish ruling class averaged"
"for negotiations with the authorities. The Strike Committee was sovereign in its decision-making, but was aided by a team of ""expert"" advisers that included the well-known dissidents Jacek Kuroń, Karol Modzelewski, Bronisław Geremek and Tadeusz Mazowiecki. On 31 August 1980, representatives of workers at the Gdańsk Shipyard, led by an electrician and activist Lech Wałęsa, signed the Gdańsk Agreement with the government that ended their strike. Similar agreements were concluded in Szczecin (the Szczecin Agreement) and in Silesia. The key provision of these agreements was the guarantee of the workers' right to form independent trade unions and the right to"
"and economic growth had become negative by 1979. As the economic crisis became unbearable, the Communist government authorized an increase in food prices for the summer of 1980. Once again a revival of labor disturbances erupted throughout the nation. Workers of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk ultimately went on strike in mid-August, sparked by the firing of Anna Walentynowicz. Led by electrician Lech Wałęsa, the workers took control of the shipyard and demanded labor reform and greater civil rights including the freedom of expression and religion, and the release of political prisoners. On the third day of the strike, on"
"first raised by the striking workers during the coastal cities events in 1970. Free Trade Unions of the Coast were a non-governmental organization, independently defending citizen's and workers rights to create organizations free from control from the state and working towards restoring democratic controls in Poland. It had its own underground biweekly newspaper (bibuła), ""Robotnik Wybrzeża"" (Worker of the Coast). By the summer of 1980 the Free Trade Unions of the Coast drawing support from ROPCiO and KOR, became the stronghold of the free trade union movement in Poland. Free Trade Unions organized the strike in Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk"
"expression, the government is opened for the creation of civil societies. This allows citizens to come together where all people can agree on human rights regardless of party beliefs. The problems caused by the labor movements and the ensuing Gdańsk Agreement led to the removal of Edward Gierek and the installation of Stanisław Kania in September 1980. ""Solidarność"" (Solidarity), the independent trade union that emerged from the Lenin Shipyard strike, was unlike anything in the history of Poland. Even though it was mainly a labor movement representing workers led by chairman Wałęsa, it attracted an assorted membership of different citizens"
"Lech Wałęsa, formed a nationwide labor union, Solidarity (""Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy (NSZZ) ""Solidarność""""). It was the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Its name was suggested by Karol Modzelewski, and its famous logo was conceived by Jerzy Janiszewski, designer of many Solidarity-related posters. The new union's supreme powers were vested in a legislative body, the Convention of Delegates (""Zjazd Delegatów""). The executive branch was the National Coordinating Commission (""Krajowa Komisja Porozumiewawcza""), later renamed the National Commission (""Komisja Krajowa""). The Union had a regional structure, comprising 38 regions (""region"") and two districts (""okręg""). On December 16, 1980, the"
"by the European Union, and the rest locally. The opening ceremony took place on 31 August 2014, on the anniversary of the signing of the Gdańsk Agreement, the 1980 victory for striking shipyard workers which led to Solidarity's foundation. The ceremony was attended by Lech Wałęsa, the co-founder of Solidarity and later President of Poland, the President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski and the Chairman of Solidarity Piotr Duda. The preceding day was celebrated as a Citizens' Day in which over 12,000 former Solidarity members and others took part. The centre awards Medals of Gratitude to foreigners who assisted the Polish"
"August 16, 1980, management granted Lenin Shipyard workers their working and pay demands. Lech Wałęsa and others announced the end of the strike, however the women of the shipyard, Anna Walentynowicz and Alina Pienkowska transformed a strike over bread and butter issues into a solidarity strike in sympathy with other striking establishments. Due to the popular support of the citizens and other striking groups, the Gdańsk workers held out until the government gave in to their demands. The successful strikers formed the Gdańsk Agreement on August 31, 1980 as an authentic social contract with the government. This allowed citizens to"
"Bogusław Ziętek Bogusław Zbigniew Ziętek (born October 9, 1964) - Polish trade union activist, co-founder and leader of Free Trade Union ""August 80"" (""Wolny Związek Zawodowy ""Sierpień 80""""). Between 2005 and 2017 he has been the leader of the Polish Labour Party. He has a medium technical education. He was candidate for Sejm three times. First time in 2001 (as member of Alternatywa Ruch Społeczny), in the Gliwice electoral district he got 379 votes. In 2005 (as member of the Polish Labour Party) he got 1199 in the Sosnowiec electoral district. In 2007, again for PLP and in the same"
"liquidation of the Senate, legalization of civil unions, liquidation of Institute of National Remembrance and Central Anticorruption Bureau. Bogusław Ziętek Bogusław Zbigniew Ziętek (born October 9, 1964) - Polish trade union activist, co-founder and leader of Free Trade Union ""August 80"" (""Wolny Związek Zawodowy ""Sierpień 80""""). Between 2005 and 2017 he has been the leader of the Polish Labour Party. He has a medium technical education. He was candidate for Sejm three times. First time in 2001 (as member of Alternatywa Ruch Społeczny), in the Gliwice electoral district he got 379 votes. In 2005 (as member of the Polish Labour"
"of the shipyard, Anna Waletynowicz and Alina Pienkowska, are credited in most eye-witness accounts for transforming a strike over bread and butter issues into a solidarity strike in sympathy with other striking establishments. Walentynowicz and Pienkowska managed to close the gates of the shipyard and keep some workers inside, but many workers went home, only to return by the next day. Wałęsa was stopped near the Gate no° 1 as he was leaving, and was persuaded to change his plans and return to the shipyard. The Gdańsk Agreement was signed on 31 August 1980, recognizing the right to organize free"
"prior to her plan to retire. This management decision enraged the workers, who staged a strike action on 14 August, defending Anna Walentynowicz, and demanding her return. In early coverage of the Gdańsk strike by Western press (which was permitted into the shipyard), Anna Walentynowicz is mentioned earlier than Lech Wałęsa. She also headed the list of the strike committee of the Gdańsk shipyard typed by Lech Wałęsa. On the third day of the strike, 16 August 1980, management granted Lenin Shipyard workers their working and pay demands. Lech Wałęsa and others announced the end of the strike. The women"
"Free Trade Unions of the Coast Free Trade Unions of the Coast (, WZZW, also translated as the Committee for Independent Trade Unions for the Coast) were a government-independent trade union in the People's Republic of Poland. This trade union was founded in Gdańsk on 29 April 1978 by Andrzej Gwiazda, Krzysztof Wyszkowski and Antoni Sokołowski. The choice of the date was not accidental: the founders issued a declaration that ""today, on the eve of the May Day, the holiday symbolizing for more than eighty years the struggle for workers' rights, we constitute the Initiating Committee of the Free Trading"
"Monument to Fallen Shipyard Workers was unveiled in Gdańsk, and on June 28, 1981, another monument was unveiled in Poznan, which commemorated the Poznań 1956 protests. On January 15, 1981, a Solidarity delegation, including Lech Wałęsa, met in Rome with Pope John Paul II. From September 5 to 10, and from September 26 to October 7, Solidarity's first national congress was held in Hala Olivia, Gdańsk, and Lech Wałęsa was elected its president. Last accord of the congress was adoption of republican program ""Self-governing Republic"". Meanwhile, Solidarity had been transforming itself from a trade union into a social movement or"
"strike, organized by the Free Trade Unions of the Coast (""Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża""). The workers were led by electrician Lech Wałęsa, a former shipyard worker who had been dismissed in 1976, and who arrived at the shipyard late in the morning of August 14. The strike committee demanded the rehiring of Walentynowicz and Wałęsa, as well as the according of respect to workers' rights and other social concerns. In addition, they called for the raising of a monument to the shipyard workers who had been killed in 1970 and for the legalization of independent trade unions. The workers may"
"for political change was intensifying strongly. Industrial strike action in Lublin in July 1980—the so-called Lublin July—preceded the formation of Solidarity (""Solidarność"") in the port city of Gdańsk during the following months. This was the first non-communist trade union in an Eastern bloc country. The government took several steps to obstruct Solidarity's emergence, enforcing press censorship and cutting off telephone connections between the coast and the hinterland, but despite these efforts four out of every five Polish workers were members of the union by late 1980. Poland's national football team, managed by Ryszard Kulesza, was then regarded as one of"
"industrial base were among the factors that forced a new round of economic reforms. Once again, in the summer of 1980 price increases set off protests across the country, especially in the Gdańsk and Szczecin shipyards. Unlike on previous occasions, the regime decided not to resort to force to suppress the strikes. In the Gdańsk Agreement and other accords reached with Polish workers, Gierek was forced to concede their right to strike, and the Solidarity labor union was born. Shortly thereafter, in early September 1980, he was replaced by the Central Committee's VI Plenum as party first secretary by Stanisław"
"coordinating action and maintaining and order to ensure the safety of the strikers. Lech Wałęsa, an electrician who had lost his job at the Gdańsk Shipyard in the strikes of 1976 was elected as chair of the MKS, while the remainder of the committee was composed of delegates from other facilities including Bogdan Lis, Andrzej Gwiazda, and others. By August 18, the MKS represented workers from 156 separate enterprises, and the number was steadily growing. Just two days after the formation of MKS the Polish economy was brought to a standstill as workers struck at factories and ports all along"
"some cases the specifications of the Commission for the Determination of Place Names were initially ignored and place names originating in the home region of the settlers were used. Gdańsk was the scene of anti-government demonstrations which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Władysław Gomułka in December 1970, and ten years later was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union movement, whose opposition to the government helped end of communist party rule in 1989 and the election as president of Poland of its leader Lech Wałęsa. It remains today a major port and industrial city. A list of"
"1979. Around 1 July 1980, with the Polish foreign debt standing at more than $20 billion, the government made yet another attempt to increase meat prices. Workers responded with escalating work stoppages that culminated in the 1980 general strikes in Lublin. In mid-August, labor protests at the Gdańsk Shipyard gave rise to a chain reaction of strikes that virtually paralyzed the Baltic coast by the end of the month and, for the first time, closed most coal mines in Silesia. The Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee coordinated the strike action across hundreds of workplaces and formulated the 21 demands as the basis"
"Polish labor movement. The trade union Solidarity (""Solidarność"") began in 1980. The Soviet-backed communist regime headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in December 1981. Lane Kirkland appointed Kahn to organize the AFL–CIO's support of Solidarity. Politically, the AFL–CIO supported the twenty-one demands of the Gdansk workers by lobbying to stop further U.S. loans to Poland unless those demands were met. Materially, the AFL–CIO established the Polish Workers Aid Fund, which raised almost $300,000 by 1981. These funds purchased printing presses and office supplies. The AFL–CIO donated typewriters, duplicating machines, a minibus, an offset press and other supplies requested"
"- ""Warsaw Steelworks"", ""Mera-Centrum"" and ""Polkolor"", as well as the cotton plant ""Stella"" in Żyrardów. First strike in the area of Lublin took place on July 8, 1980, in the ""State Aviation Works"" PZL in Świdnik, in the ""Section W-340"" of the factory. It was then that the ""Lublin July"" began, which later sparked the famous ""August 1980"" wave of strikes in the cities on the Baltic coast. Norbert Wojciechowski, former Solidarity activist and spokesperson of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin says that the collapse of the Communist system of Poland did not start in the Gdańsk"
"the newly formed WZZ or Free Trade Unions of the Coast in 1978, and in the early 1980s came to symbolize the opposition movement, along with her colleagues from the WZZ, Lech Wałęsa, Andrzej Gwiazda, Bogdan Borusewicz, Alina Pienkowska, the Wyszkowski brothers and Andrzej Kołodziej. As editor of the Polish samizdat (""bibuła"") ""Robotnik Wybrzeża"" (""The Coastal Worker""), she distributed an underground newsheet at the shipyard; she often challenged the authorities, not was it uncommon for her to openly challenge her superiors. For participation in the illegal trade union, Walentynowicz was fired by the shipyard on 7 August 1980, 5 months"
"social justice, and when in July 1980 the government attempted to raise the price of meat even further, sit-in strikes started up again. When, in August 1980, Anna Walentynowicz lost her job at the Gdańsk Shipyard because of her position as editor of the underground newspaper ""Robotnik Wybrzeze"", her fellow workers took action. Around 16,000 employees of the shipyard discontinued their work and occupied its premises on the morning of August 14, demanding Walentynowicz's re-employment, the erection of a monument in honor of the victims of the strikes of 1970, and a pay rise of 2000 zlotys, amongst other things."
"the end of August, a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed. In December 1990, Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. Since then Solidarity has become a more traditional, liberal trade union. Its membership had dropped to 680,000 by 2010 and 400,000 by 2011. In the 1970s Poland's government raised food prices while wages stagnated. This and other stresses led to the June 1976 protests and subsequent government crackdown on dissent. The KOR, the ROPCIO, and other groups began to form underground networks to monitor and oppose the government's behavior. Labour unions formed an important part of this network. In 1979, the"
"to socialism as conceived by Marx: ""[workers organized] against the exploiters, that is to say, the state. And this solitary example of a working class revolution (if even this may be counted) was directed against a socialist state, and carried out under the sign of the cross, with the blessing of the Pope."" The union was officially founded on 17 September 1980, the union's supreme powers were vested in a legislative body, the ""Convention of Delegates"" (""Zjazd Delegatów""). The executive branch was the National Coordinating Commission (""Krajowa Komisja Porozumiewawcza""), later renamed the National Commission (""Komisja Krajowa""). The Union had a"
"the Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. From early in his career, Wałęsa was interested in workers' concerns; in 1968 he encouraged shipyard colleagues to boycott official rallies that condemned recent student strikes. He was a charismatic leader, who helped organize the illegal 1970 protests at the Gdańsk Shipyard when workers protested the government's decree raising food prices and he was considered for the position of chairman of the strike committee. The strikes' outcome, which involved the deaths of over 30 workers, galvanized Wałęsa's views on the need for change. In June 1976, Wałęsa lost his job at the Gdańsk"
"July, but the collapse of the economy continued and so did the general disorder. At the first Solidarity National Congress in September–October 1981 in Gdańsk, Lech Wałęsa was elected national chairman of the union with 55% of the vote. An appeal was issued to the workers of the other East European countries, urging them to follow in the footsteps of Solidarity. To the Soviets, the gathering was an ""anti-socialist and anti-Soviet orgy"" and the Polish communist leaders, increasingly led by Jaruzelski and General Czesław Kiszczak, were ready to apply force. In October 1981, Jaruzelski was named first secretary of the"
"workers striking in several Polish cities, including Lublin. As a result of the strike in Lublin, the city was ""virtually shut down"", and Jagielski led a delegation to the city which was able to ease tension there. Gdańsk became the focal point of the strike movement. On 21 August 1980, Mieczysław Jagielski replaced Tadeusz Pyka to lead a Polish government commission which was negotiating with strikers there. The strikers were represented by the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee, which was demanding that the workers it represented be given better rights, including better rights to strike. On 26 August meeting with representatives of"