Other Locations
Even though the official mass-media did not inform about the strikes, events of Lublin became known in the area. Soon afterwards, strikes began in such towns, as Chełm, Kraśnik, Lubartów, Opole Lubelskie, Puławy, Tomaszów Lubelski, Zamość and in the crucial rail junction of Dęblin. The strikes of the Lublin and Dęblin junctions paralyzed rail links between the Soviet Union and the Red Army garrisons in the German Democratic Republic. The direct reason for railway workers protesting was terrible working conditions. 'We repaired wagons in canals, completely smeared with mud', one of them recollected.
On July 18, one of sections of the Stalowa Wola Steelworks joined the strike, which spread across other sections. According to Mariusz Mucha, a journalist associated with Solidarity, altogether in the area of Lublin, 177 factories, with 80 000 employees joined the strike. The demands dealt with wage increases and the cancellation of the price rises. The government granted wage increases: 10% on average, sometimes as high as 20%. Furthermore, the increases were sometimes granted in advance to strikers in order to calm the movement.
It must be mentioned, that during the strikes, the workers did not repeat mistakes of the Poznań 1956 protests and the 1970 events in Pomerania and avoided going out on the streets, instead staying in their factories. They came to work, stood at the machines and did not work. They managed to organise themselves, chose their representatives and negotiated to have their demands met.
Read more about this topic: Lublin 1980 Strikes