yielded fantastic results.
On Monday Lech Walesa, the leader of the Shipyard workers, signed the Gdansk Pact which included: * Full recognition for a free trade union in the Gdansk region and the right to strike. * The right for trade union journals to publish whatever they choose and a liberalisation of the censorship laws. * The release of the 25 leading dissidents who were arrested during une strike, cluding the leading figure in the KOR, Jacek Kuron. * Pay increases have promised, meat imports are to be encreased to allow lower prices, and improved housing programmes are planned. Meat rationing will be looked into. * The Polish government has declared 1t will speed economic reforms, decentralise management, and ensure that a national debate takes place on the question.
Women with babies will be allowed to stay home for three vears with tull compensation. Family allowances will be raised to the level of the army militia. Retirement pensions will be increased. * No victimisaton of strikers and a case by case study of those workers victimised previous strikes to gain re* The constructio... a marble plaque to commemorate workers killed in the 1970 riot at the Szcecin shipyard.
Speakers: Tessa Van Workers throughout the world will be inspired by the victory of the Polish workers. Their 18-day general strike in the Baltic ports has In Szcecin, has been signed although the Lenin new union has less room for manoeuvre than in Gdansk.
In Silesia, a region of the county were Gierek iS judged to ticularly high, have demanded recognition for independent unions and higher standards of safety in the pits. recognise the Communist Party as 'the leading force in Poland and 'not to question the existing system of alliances'. But strike been Lech Walesa urged workers not worry about respect the role of the Comhave formed unions ourselves, he told the 1,000 delegates listening to the negoulations the shipyards. 'If them, as I am, then you can be sure that won't anybody else to have a leading role inside them'.
But there will be conflicts between the free trade unions and the Polish Communist Party in the future. economy is only efficient when the workers themselves decide on economic priorities.
To decide these priorities, in power must be taken out of the nands of the eaders of the Polish Communist Party placed in the hands workers. This is the only perSOILLOI workers of Poland today.
IMG/Revolution Youth PUBLIC MEETING Gelderen (IMG), Sonya Martyniak (Revolution Youth), and Oliver Macdonald (Editor, Labour Focus on Eastern Europe).
Friday 5 September 7.30pm, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1. a similar pact support for be par30,000 miners agreed to leader having to these Lenin you are inside allow A planned and tacing the tee discusses the next move in the struggle. ABOVE: Strike leader Lech Walesa chaired around the shipyard. BELOW: Strike committhe une be tion.' Gdansk 'WE ARE going to win!' Everyone waits with calm confidence in their strength, unity, their rights. There are tens of thousands of people gathered around the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk. In many cases the whole family has come.
They listen to the loudspeakers broadcasting the discussions inside the factory. They bring money or food for the strikers, bags filled with potatoes or tomatoes. They go up to gates are covered with flowers and embrace each other. Eager The children are there too; huge crowds stretching round this immense shipyard are all waiting for the government to meet the demands of 300,000 strikers in the Everyone is eager for information. Now and then sothrows bunch of leaflets in the air and there is a mad rush for them. But soon everything is calm again.
In fact everybody will get a chance to read these precious Leaflets as they are passed from hand to hand, crumpled and badly printed though they may - the yard only has one printing machine whose limit is a few hundred copies Since Saturday (23 August) the strike committee's bulletin has come out daily. In its first issue the committee (the MKS) explains: We know that the government is doing everything to isolate us. It tries to cover up our strike. It wants to block solidarity. It says that we are anti-socialist elements, that our strike Is political. What we want is to discuss the economic problems, to win our rights. We aren't against the regime.' Watchful The tone is moderate. But very quickly one gathers that these words lag behind present consciousness As one MKS delegate explained to me he tree tradi union is for us the first deLIne political prisoners, and all our rights. It isn't a simple economic quesPeople can't go in and out at will. Only factory delegations and journalists can cross the threshold. The strike commees are walchrul. AreNa series of checks, each visitor receives a pass. This allows free movement inside the factory. Continued on page 3
Socialist Challenge .No.162 3 September 1980| 20p
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What is happening in Poland today?
EYEWITNESS: THE LENIN SHIPYARD From Jean-Yves Touvais in