2024-08-31 16:29 update: 2024-08-31, 16:34
Photo PAP/Andrzej Jackowski
Solidarity has the right to speak out on behalf of society as it is the litmus test of a free and independent Poland, President Andrzej Duda said referring to the trade union's historic role in August Agreements which led to fall of the communist regime.
On Saturday, Poland commemorated the 44th anniversary of the milestone accord of August 31, 1980 between Poland’s communist rulers and the then rising Solidarity, the first independent trade union in then-communist Eastern Europe.
Duda said at the ceremonial meeting of Solidarity in Gdansk on Saturday that this was his last presence, as a president, at the anniversary of signing of August Agreements and birth of Solidarity trade union.
He added that Solidarity has the right to speak out on behalf of society and that every government is obliged to listen to their voice.
"Speak up at all times, and keep a watchful eye on Poland, he said.
"You are the litmus test of a free, sovereign and independent Poland, of whether Polish affairs are being conducted in the right direction."
"Solidarity does not want to rule," Duda continued. "Solidarity stands and wants to uphold the fundamental values stemming from Catholic social teaching, the Decalogue, and the inherent right of every human being to dignity and to living in proper and appropriate conditions."
Forty-four years ago in August, workers at the shipyard in the northern Polish city of Gdansk, started a strike, led by a former employee, Lech Walesa, over an unfair dismissal of their colleague, Anna Walentynowicz.
The protesters issued a list of 21 demands to the government for more freedoms in the communist-dominated political system, including the legalisation of independent trade unions, ensuring freedom of speech, releasing political prisoners, removing party privileges for managerial staff and introducing a five-day working week.
They were joined by workers from other cities, forcing the communist regime to make concessions.
On August 31, after 18 days of a sit-in strike at the Gdansk Shipyard and protests in over 700 workplaces across the country, the historic agreements were signed, marking the birth of Solidarity. (PAP)
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