Lublin 1980 Strikes - Background

Background

On January 1, 1980, Edward Gierek, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, gave a New Year's speech in which he admitted that Poland was in an economic slump, adding that the difficulties had been caused both by drought in the summer of 1979 and by the severe winter of 1979-1980. More than a month later, on February 9, the Central Statistical Office disclosed data about Polish State revenue, announcing that compared to the previous year, it shrank by 2%. The growing crisis was also noticed by the Catholic Church. On February 18, Polish hierarchy with Primate Stefan Wyszynski, emphasized bad economic situation of the country and urged the government to talk to the nation.

In the following weeks, numerous price increases of several products were announced, such as gasoline, cigarettes, soft drinks, and then, on June 30, the nation was shocked to find out that a major increase in meat prices (up to 60%) had been announced. The increase also included the so-called meat products, available in canteens in Polish factories. Reaction of the workers was immediate. On the next day, strikes broke out in Warsaw's tractor plant Ursus, in the bus producer Autosan in Sanok, in the Communications Equipment Factory in Mielec, in the car component factory Polmo in Tczew and in the compressor plant Ponar in Tarnów. In the Ursus tractor factory, the workers organised assemblies, composed a list of demands, and elected a strike committee. They resisted the threat of firings and repression and carried on work stoppages throughout the following period.

On July 1, the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party gathered in Warsaw, but the protests were not even mentioned during talks. Meanwhile, major factories in Warsaw joined the strike - Warsaw Steelworks, Mera-Centrum and Polkolor, as well as the cotton plant Stella in Żyrardów.