Vitaly Portnikov. "Solidarity" 20 years later

"Solidarity" 20 years later
Vitaly Portnikov

Date of publication: September 8, 2000

My last stay in Poland coincided with the final - and main - days of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the creation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" and its agreements with the then communist authorities of the country. It should probably not be surprising that the Poles were seriously preparing for the anniversary of the biggest event in their recent political history. In Gdansk, “the cradle of Solidarity,” a trade union congress was held specially dedicated to the anniversary of the X╡╡ anniversary; interviews with Lech Walesa were on TV screens and newspaper pages; not only the majority of leading Polish politicians and public figures could be seen at the ceremonies , but also Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who specially flew to Gdansk... And yet, behind the ceremonial television broadcasts and nostalgic interviews, a certain uncertainty of society was felt, uncertainty that briefly fits in the formula: “could Solidarity remain the same, and Poland become different? ".

The point is not even that the President of Poland and the undisputed favorite of the current presidential campaign, Alexander Kwasniewski, did not receive an invitation to Gdansk - Solidarity perceives the current head of state as a representative of an alien political camp and does not want to celebrate with him. But the difficult agreements between the first chairman of Solidarity, Lech Walesa, and the current head of the trade union, Marian Krzaklewski, who tried to meet less frequently during the current ceremonies, demonstrated that even for Solidarity of today, “that trade union” has become more of a museum symbol than a living tradition. And the black and white photographs that appeared in the newspapers of a young, disheveled electrician, not yet accustomed to the role of a labor leader, were strangely dissonant with the high-quality color portraits of a venerable politician, confident in his historical destiny... What can you do! "Solidarity" of 1980 was first and foremost a romantic movement, a fantastic impulse towards freedom that did not divide, as is often the case with romantic impulses, but rather united Polish society. Movements of this kind rarely have the opportunity to celebrate anniversaries - and in this case, the claims of contemporaries, who witnessed the pragmatism of many romantics and the organization itself, are quite understandable.

Just as presidential candidate Lech Walesa was shaking hands with presidential candidate Marian Krzaklewski in Gdańsk after months of mutual accusations, the Warsaw weekly Wprost asked an unexpected question: “Why don’t we like Solidarity?” The reason for these reflections was the appearance on the famous gate No. 2 of the Gdansk Shipyard of a poster with an eloquent statement: “Solidarity is a relic of communism.”

“People don’t like Solidarity because it promised them a different Poland than the current one: less free market, more protective, guaranteeing work and leisure at sea. The irritation comes from disappointment and regret associated with the fact that the utopian slogans of August were not realized 1980,” the magazine notes. “Many Poles also believe that Solidarity was a springboard for the careers of its creators. That is why posters with portraits of long-time heroes are torn off the walls with such pleasure.”

“In relation to Solidarity, the phenomenon of the Polish (is it only Polish? - V.P.) paradox - love and simultaneous hatred for national heroes - was clearly manifested. King Stanislaw August, Marshal Pilsudski, General Sikorski had to experience this,” notes in an interview with Vprost. British historian Norman Davis - The more someone suddenly rises in the eyes of the people, the more forcefully they try to throw him off the pedestal. And sometimes the ideal itself falls..."

“Many people believe that something bad happened to the union itself, which quickly turned many of its long-time leaders away from it,” Vprost continues. For public opinion, it does not matter that they often did this for personal reasons. For it, it is enough that Bogdan Borusewicz, the main organizer of the strike at the Gdansk Shipyard, and now a deputy of the Sejm from the Union of Freedom, is perceived by his fellow union members as a renegade. Something similar is with Zbigniew Bujak, the country's chief customs officer, who left Solidarity in the early 90s... "

“An important reason for millions of people to turn away from Solidarity was the feeling that it had deceived those who created it - workers and public sector employees. The power of the trade union turned against its creators - workers, teachers, doctors,” notes Professor Jadwiga Staniskis , sociologist at the University of Warsaw. “Disappointed people are leaving, but no new supporters are being added,” adds Władysław Frasyniuk, leader of the first “Solidarity” in Lower Silesia, now a parliamentarian from the Union of Freedom. “Of course, that’s why the union has half a million members less than five years ago...”

A lot of similar thoughts are being expressed in the Polish press these days. And many concrete facts can be found to prove them. However, should researchers be surprised that “Solidarity” during the Polish People’s Republic and the current trade union are different organizations? After all, they operate in completely different conditions, in different social formations. Another thing is that “Solidarity” has become a phenomenon of the Polish political system of modern times, a kind of “Polish Histadrut”. Just as the most influential Israeli trade union never wanted to be just a trade union, having a strong impact on the development of the country and the ruling party, Solidarity stubbornly refuses to turn into an ordinary trade union organization, claiming the role of a “superparty” in Polish society and substantiating these claims in August 1990 and the further heroic history of “that” “Solidarity”. These claims guarantee a successful political career for the current union leaders: after all, it was the Solidarity Electoral Action, of which the union was the core, that managed to win the last parliamentary elections and form a government, and union leader Marian Krzaklewski is the most dangerous rival of President Aleksander Kwasniewski in the upcoming elections head of state. But, on the other hand, such claims by Solidarity objectively delay the development of the right-wing political spectrum in the country and the emergence of a truly strong and influential right-wing party - namely a party, not a trade union - capable of constructively interacting with liberals and resisting the left of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland . The trade union not only cannot be a party: it cannot be a right-wing party. As long as Solidarity occupies someone else's political niche, Poland's political system cannot be considered established. Sooner or later, the current leaders of Solidarity will have to admit that the history of the legendary trade union does not give them any additional rights other than responsibility for the inherited “trademark”. And finally make a choice - leave the trade union and become politicians, or stay in it and turn into trade unionists. In the meantime, today's Solidarity prefers to remain between these two chairs, keeping the entire Polish political life in this very uncomfortable position.