A lot is currently happening at NSZZ Solidarity. Numerous celebrations and events associated with the trade union's 40th birthday are still underway across the entire country. Mateusz Kosiński talks to Piotr Duda, Chairman of NSZZ Solidarity National Committee, about the beginnings of Solidarity, but also about the period associated with a difficult political transformation.
Mr. Chairman, it is the 40th anniversary of the Solidarity movement. However, the relationship between you, the current chairman of the trade union, and Lech Walesa, the first chairman of the union, is not very good. You recently met one another in a courtroom. What was the hearing about and how did it end?
Our first chairman has once again accused me of serving in ZOMO. But, of course, there is a broader context to the issue. Lech Wałęsa is the source of many unacceptable, even embarrassing statements, such as the one about bludgeoning the Solidarity movement. For the most part, we do not pay attention to these, but to accuse the head of Solidarity of serving in a hated formation that fought against Solidarity is going too far. Today I can say this – I do not want to have anything to do with Wałęsa and we can meet in court. Although he is a coward and does not even come to court.
The figure of Lech Walesa evokes great emotions. The former President has repeatedly reiterated his great role in the process of overthrowing communism in Poland. Does Solidarity really owe its phenomenon solely to Walesa's talents?
Certain deeds can be attributed to Lech Wałęsa and he has a place in history. He was our first chairman and nothing will change that. Even his past association with the security service. This is a matter for historians and everyone should make up their own minds about it. I will just say that there is no official Trade Union document condemning or evaluating Wałęsa. This is not an issue for Solidarity. He creates problems for himself by himself.
You ask what we owe him. From today's perspective and with today's knowledge, we know that the answer to that question is "not much". Wałęsa was not responsible for the strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard. And if it had not been for brave women like Alina Pieńkowska and Anna Walentynowicz, the strike would have ended on the third day. And we know now that if we had listened to him then, there would be no Solidarity as we know it today. He wanted local trade unions. Fortunately, the Silesian agreements in Jastrzębie and, above all, in Katowice, determined the creation of a single national trade union. And the most important matter. Who said that Gdańsk is the birthplace of Solidarity? It was created all over Poland. At its peak, more than 700 plants and more than 700 000 workers went on strike. It was they who forced the authorities to sign the agreements. There were many such agreements, and the most important ones were the four in Szczecin, Gdańsk, Jastrzębie Zdrój and Dąbrowa Górnicza. Gdańsk is important and it is a symbol, but one has to give credit where it is due.
In his attacks on you, Lech Wałęsa often uses the argument that the trade union during his term of office had 10 million members, and today that number is smaller. Is this a valid argument?
He was chairman from September 1980 to February 1991. When he became chairman, Solidarity did have 10 million members. But when he handed the Trade Union over to the new chairman Marian Krzaklewski in February 1991 (when he was already President), Solidarity had only 1.5 million members. If, as one says - you know a real man not by the way he starts, but by the way he ends - then Wałęsa was chairman of a 1.5 millionth union. And if we realise that, as President, he was the patron saint of wild privatisation, which resulted in the collapse of many workplaces and the departure of thousands of members, then one can say that no one has harmed Solidarity as much as Lech Wałęsa. And he is not doing it any favours today either.
How much of a role in the victory of the Solidarity movement was played by its civil structures? As it seems that the strength of Solidarity was the fact that its local structures operated throughout Poland.
Solidarity was not created because there were some oppositionists, some underground, experts, secret societies, and so on. It was created because Polish workers wanted it. It was they who, in mass strikes, won their own trade union, through which they wanted to fight for the dignity of their work. And that is still the same. Solidarity is the people behind it. Given people at given workplaces who have specific demands and expectations. Today, there are nearly 700,000 workers in Solidarity who, whether you like it or not, are the largest, strongest and best organised social group in Poland. And - a surprise - this has not changed since August 1980 to the present day. Just as Solidarity has not changed, which is still one and the same.
During the first decades of the Third Republic of Poland, has the state somehow forgotten about these hundreds of thousands of often anonymous, heroes?
Not somehow, just simply - it forgot. Solidarity has always remembered. Hundreds of monuments, plaques, obelisks, street names, roundabouts and squares have been created to nurture the memory of these nameless heroes over the last 30 years. It did not happen by itself. Only Solidarity fought for such remembrance. Even the OHS Room, where the agreements were signed, would have been a pile of rubble a long time ago had it not been for Solidarity, because we took it over in a state where a construction disaster was imminent. It is from the contributions of members of the Trade Union that it has been rebuilt and restored for the society, at a cost of a dozen or so million zloty, so that today one can visit this sacred place for free.
What is most embarrassing, however, is that people like Anna Walentynowicz or the Gwiazda couple had to wait for the presidency of Lech Kaczyński, because President Lech Wałęsa preferred to surround himself with people from the communist services instead of appreciating real heroes.
For many years the elites ruling Poland have been building a biased message about the history of Solidarity. Some people - like Lech Wałęsa, Władysław Frasyniuk, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Adam Michnik - were put on the pedestal, while others - like Andrzej and Joanna Gwiazda, Krzysztof Wyszkowski, Anna Walentynowicz, Jan Olszewski were marginalised. Why?
History is written by the victors. Lech Wałęsa quickly purged the Trade Union's authorities of people who were critical of him. On top of that, after 1989, he made a deal with people like Kiszczak and simply deceived us and exploited us, which resulted in wild privatisations, the strengthening of the left and the impunity of the Communist apparatus, including Communist criminals. And then there is Gazeta Wyborcza, where Michnik and company made their fortunes. After all, the newspaper was set up using social funds. Meanwhile, it has been taken over by a group of private individuals who are committed to fighting Solidarity. This is mainly why thousands of people had to wait for their deeds to be honoured with dignity. Fortunately, we have IPN, we had Lech Kaczyński, we have Andrzej Duda. We are slowly doing what Lech Wałęsa should have done a long time ago.
Was Solidarity's power based on the Catholic Church?
No. Solidarity's power primarily lay in its members. But it was none other than St John Paul II who awakened Solidarity in us. If it had not been for his choice, and if it had not been for his first pilgrimage to his homeland in 1979, which changed the face of this land at the calling of the Holy Spirit, Solidarity would probably not have happened. The Church has always been a faithful ally, and many brave priests supported us even though it could have cost them their lives. It is no coincidence that our chaplain, Blessed Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko, is the patron of NSZZ Solidarity. Furthermore, we are a Christian trade union, based on the social teaching of the church. That is why I will answer yes - Solidarity had support from the Church and it was able to steer this power wisely. It helped in difficult moments, in moments of triumph it taught humility, and when we got lost it had words with us. It is difficult to imagine Solidarity without the Church.
Today, the leaders of the Civic Platform, the largest opposition party in Poland, are talking about the need for a 'new Solidarity'. Do these people have the moral right to invoke the heritage of Solidarity? Because when you realise the message promoted by these circles, you get the impression that Solidarity was a movement of progressive economic liberals ...
Solidarity did not expel anyone out of Solidarity. Neither those who wanted to stay in it nor those who wanted to leave it. Everyone had a right to choose and every choice has to be respected. Bur we will never allow those who have left us to take away our right to be Solidarity Most of us have been here from the beginning and this was our conscious choice. The so-called New Solidarity is an empty slogan, because there are no values behind it. And Solidarity is built on values, and these are Christian values, not LGBT or liberal free for all values.. As I said in my speech during our 40th anniversary celebrations, let them set up a social movement under the leadership of Rafał Trzaskowski, but let them call it 'Nowa Czajka'. That would be a good name. It is more fitting and shows the foundation this idea is built upon.
The real artefact of August 1980 are the boards with the 21 demands of the strikers, which were hanging on the gate of Gdańsk Shipyard. Today there is a dispute over the boards between the National Maritime Museum in Gdynia and the European Solidarity Centre. NSZZ Solidarity is on the side of the former of those institutions. Why? Where should the boards be located? What are the charges against the ESC?
If it had not been for the Maritime Museum and the heroic workers of this museum, who hid the originals during martial law, we would not have these boards today. Today it formally owns them, but morally they belong to the NSZZ Solidarity and should ultimately be where they belong - in the historic OHS Room. They should also be accessible to everyone. You have to pay for this at the ESC, a visit to the OHS Room is free of charge. We are now waiting for the Maritime Museum to take the case to court and recover the boards appropriated by the ESC.
Is today's Poland moving towards the fulfilment of the demands of August 1980?
It has been for the last five years. Finally, for the first time since 1989, we are recovering for the workers that which has been taken from us over all these years. The retirement age, trade union pluralism, trade on Sundays, radical increase in minimum wages and the introduction of a minimum hourly rate. I could go on and on. But we have to build our organisation, because nothing is given to us forever. What we have today can be taken away from us. If we choose liberals in the future, we will be back to square one.