Independent Students' Union - Legalization

Legalization

The first request for legalization of the NZS was presented in the Provincial Court in Warsaw on October 20, 1980, but the justice refused. On November 13, the Warsaw Court stated that only laborers were entitled to create trade unions. In response, strikes and protests were organized throughout fall of 1980 and winter of 1980-1981, with the biggest taking place at the University of Poznań (November 1980), and the University of Łódź (January - February 1981). Among those who took part in the Łódź strikes was a famous soccer player Stanislaw Terlecki, who used his connections to get food for students. Desperate students of the Warsaw University began to occupy the college in late November 1980, but due to the mediation of rector Henryk Samsonowicz, the protest was terminated.