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TheAugust Agreements (Polish:Porozumienia sierpniowe) was a set of four accords reached between the government of thePolish People's Republic and thestriking shipyard workers in Poland. The accord, signed in late August 1980 by government representativeMieczysław Jagielski and strike leaderLech Wałęsa, led to the creation of thetrade unionSolidarity and was an important milestone towards the eventualend of Communist rule in Poland.
In summer 1980, faced with a major economic crisis, the Polish government authorized a rise in food prices, which immediately led to a wave of strikes and factory occupations across the country. On 14 August workers at theLenin Shipyard in Gdańsk went on strike after the sacking ofAnna Walentynowicz, five months before she was to retire. TheInter-Enterprise Strike Committee, headed by Wałęsa, issued a list of21 demands to the government. Thanks to popular support within the country, the workers held out until the government gave in to their demands, and an agreement was formalized on 31 August.
In the aftermath of the strike, Solidarity emerged as an independent trade union and rapidly grew, ultimately claiming over 10 million members nationwide and establishing itself as a major force in Polish politics.First SecretaryEdward Gierek was removed from power and replaced byStanisław Kania.
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The labor strikes did not occur because of problems that emerged shortly before the unrest, but due to political and economic difficulties the previous ten years. Under the rule ofWładysław Gomułka in the late 1960s, Poland's economy was in disarray. To counter this, the government increasedfood prices just beforeChristmas 1970 which irritated the entire populace of the nation.
| August 1980 Polish strikes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Date | 14–31 August 1980 | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by | Authoritarianism Austerity Exploitation of workers | ||
| Goals | Democratization Improvement of life conditions Independentlabour unions | ||
| Methods | Civil disobedience Strike action | ||
| Resulted in | Opposition victory
| ||
| Parties | |||
| Lead figures | |||
On 14 December 1970 workers from theLenin shipyard in Gdańsk began a strike against party headquarters within the city insisting on the formation of independenttrade unions. In this disturbance 75 people were killed after Gomułka ordered that the revolt be put down with force. As R. J. Crampton wrote: "TheKremlin did not agree and intervened to urge the need for a political solution. For the nationalist communist Gomułka,Soviet dictation of internal Polish policies was too much."[1]
Edward Gierek, who appeared to be more open to workers' needs and have strong political ties to the working class, soon replaced Gomułka. This was the first occasion in Europe sinceWorld War II that labor strikes were able to remove a ruler from power.
Gierek was able to stress economic reforms during the first half of his tenure of office. According to R. J. Crampton: "The stated objective of the reforms was to increase living standards; a less publicly attested motivation was the knowledge that, with prices fixed and with demand increasing, goods had to be put into circulation to avoid rampantinflation."[2]
In the years prior to the Gdańsk strikes in 1980 the reforms of Gierek did succeed as planned, but the economy of Poland became progressively more unstable. This was due to Poland's reliance on western markets and loans that the nation could not repay.
Fueled by large infusions of Western credit, Poland's economic growth rate was one of the world's highest during the first half of the 1970s, but much of the borrowed capital was misspent and the centrallyplanned economy was unable to use the new resources effectively. The growingdebt burden became insupportable in the late 1970s and economic growth had become negative by 1979.[3]
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 ofAnna Walentynowicz.[4]
Led by electricianLech Wałęsa, the workers took control of the shipyard and demanded labor reform and greatercivil rights including thefreedom of expression andreligion, and the release ofpolitical prisoners. On the third day of the strike, 16 August 1980, management granted Lenin Shipyard workers their working and pay demands. Wałęsa and others announced the end of the strike, however the women of the shipyard, Anna Walentynowicz andAlina Pienkowska transformed a strike over bread and butter issues into a solidarity strike in sympathy with other striking establishments.[5]
Due to the popular support of the citizens and other striking groups, the Gdańsk workers held out until the government gave in to theirdemands. The successful strikers formed the Gdańsk Agreement on 31 August 1980, as an authenticsocial contract with the government.[6] This allowed citizens to bring democratic changes within the communist political structure. The main concern of the workers was the establishment of a trade union independent of communist party control and the legal right to strike. In creating these new groups, there would be a clear representation of the workers' needs.
"These new unions are intended to defend the social and material interests of the workers, and not to play the role of apolitical party, they will be established on the basis ofsocialization of the means of production and of thesocialist system that exists in Poland today."[7] Other major concerns were to control commercial prices, the use of foreign money in all internal economic dealings, ensuring the proper supply of resources within the nation and only exporting the excess. This would ensure that there would be a better chance for prosperity within the nation for all working citizens.
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The Gdańsk Agreement is very important to the politics of Poland because the strikes exposed thecorruption andnegligence within the state's leadership. In recognizing individual rights, such as the freedom of expression, thegovernment is opened for the creation of civil societies. This allows citizens to come together where all people can agree onhuman rights regardless of party beliefs. The problems caused by thelabor movements and the ensuing Gdańsk Agreement led to the removal of Edward Gierek and the installation ofStanisław Kania in September 1980.
Solidarność (Solidarity), the independenttrade union that emerged from theLenin 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 which quickly rose to unpararelled proportion of a quarter of the country's population: 10 million people nationwide. Due to its enormous size and newly found power, the union assumed the role of a national reform lobby able to change politics in Poland forever.
Lech Wałęsa used acharacteristic pen withPope John Paul II's image to sign this agreement, which was quickly shown on television networks around the world, not only bringing financial success to the manufacturer's family business, but also attracting attention for breaching conventions.[8]
On the second anniversary of the agreement, 31 August 1982,a massive wave of anti-government demonstrations took place across Poland. The regime answered with police force; according to Solidarity, at least seven people were killed throughout Poland.
