Desperation Drives on Desperation Drives on Polish Workers' Struggle

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Or hours to buy even the arity national leadership. leading to the main Party protests and thousands of elted with eggs and abuse. words - we want to take the place of PUWP leadersh inst basic of food stuffs launched partial protests and headquarters for 48 hours onlookers expressed their ecessary for a family meal. strikes in over 360 of the while the CC was in progress, support and encouragement since decreed it illegal for the government I this on top of the rest of district's factories. himnad In Warcaw nublic trans- increases and the rationing. nce etate buses/trams etc on sure Thi protest at the price to the demonstrators. Minór public transport workers to going, to increase the pres- country' Now the government has banned publie transport work lor hours to buy even the mosı basıc of food stuffs necessary for a family meal All this on top of the rest of the domestic work lumped onto the shoulders of women as well as an eight hour stint in la factory or office.

Then in addition the sovernment courteously inform you chat not oniy are the prices of basic food›tuffs going to skyrocket hv oetween.200 and 900%, but elso that others will be strictly rationed Chis is the situation sacing millions of Polish housewives - the. causes propelling thousands of them onto the streets in massive hunger demonstrations over the laśt few weeks.

The humiliation and drudgery of queuing for hours is now compounded by government and party attempts to unload the crisis of Polish agriculture and rood shortages onto their already overburdened shoulders.

The ration for meat has. been further reduced to 3 pounds per month by government decree - ostensibly only for the month of August.

On 30 July 30,000 women and children staged a hunger march through the streets of Lodz - Poland's second city where the major slogan was "General, we want to eat".

In Czestochowa, the local Solidarity leadership, witharity national leadership, launched partial protests and strikes in over 360 of the district's factories.

In Warsaw public trans food protests and blocking traffic from joining pelted with eggs and abuse.

The government have The government have since decreed it illegal for public transport workers to use state buses/ trams etc on demonstrations to avoid a repeat of the massive traffic alla Irrespective or whatever nappened at the 9th Extraordinary Congress of the PUWP the "Congress of Renewal? the attitude of Poland's working class to its masters remains unequivocally hostile summed up on one of the banners in the Lodz nunger march The government governs, the party leads and the people die of hunger.

in the face or this groundswell of working class anger, an anger which has been maintained and broadened despite an entire year of privations, hardship and sacrifices Solidarity's national leadership, in particular Walesa, has made violent attacks on the government accusing it of "abusing the trade union's patience. We have waited for an entire year for the government to formulate measures against the crisis and carry out economic reforms. We can't wait any longer. We shall have to deal with it ourselves."

But Walesa's radical rhetoric, inplying confrontation with a government which has lost the confidence of the masses, was suitably toned down to prevent any initiatives which would challenge the governwords - "I don't mean that we want to take the place of the government we're going to increase the pressure"

Pressure would be the least that Solidarity would have to apply, in the face of a national upsurge of militancy threatening. to break out or the control of the union leadership and on the other hand the virulent denunciation of Solidarity's "Sabotage" and wrecking of the country in the entire Polish media.

Against this background the negotiations between the government represented by Rakowski and Solidarity on the other hand were doomed to failure.

The negotiations were shipwrecked immediately on the question of special "control commissions" to monitor the provision and distribution of food.

Suspicion

Suspicion was so rampant that no agreement could be reached on the composition and division ol authority within these commissions. Other questions, like that of workers' control, were not even broached.

Marshal Victor Koulikov head of the Warsaw Pact forces has also visited the Polish capital just to underline Soviet displeasure with the recurring crisis and to make clear the motive of the In this SI we're come out again economic aggra The outside national to and 1 raised la becomir vocal. PUP leadership has finall come out against the "soci economic aggravation in ti country'» This concerted campany is whipping the moderat around Walesa into T Walesa and the Natic Coordinating Council Solidarity (KKP) at the d of its meeting on Augus appealed to the Polish w ing class to abstain frep strikes, demonstrations hunger marches un. reconvening of the K™ September 3 wh situation would be reviu Apart from this oby climbdown the Solidi national leadership called on Polish worker accept price rises for b and given the appalling of the economy to wo free Saturdays this year.

The right to a free S day was one of the fought for demands no arity last year.

it seems that in. marches starting from ent cities around the c which were to conver Warsaw on August been called off at tence of Solidar Church.

clamour IslSolidarity f~ leadership ight for the dst year in Gda more and

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Socialist Organiser, Thursday 20 August, 1981 Page 6