Rural Solidarity
Quick Summary
Rural Solidarity (Wiejska Solidarność) was a Polish trade union founded on December 14, 1980, in Warsaw. It was established as a separate agricultural union composed of private farmers, emerging from a wave of strikes and labor unrest in 1980 that protested rising food prices and government policies.1
The broader Solidarity movement, which began with industrial workers, was founded in September 1980. It was the first independent labor union in a Soviet bloc country. The movement was forcibly suppressed by the Polish government in December 1981 but reemerged in 1989, leading to the formation of the first opposition-led government in a Soviet-bloc nation since the 1940s. The union's origins trace back to the Workers' Defense Committee (KOR) founded in 1976 to support imprisoned workers.1
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Solidarity…composed of private farmers, named Rural Solidarity (Wiejska Solidarność), was founded in Warsaw on December 14, 1980. By early 1981 Solidarity had a membership of about 10 million people and represented most of the work force of Poland.
Read More…composed of private farmers, named Rural Solidarity (Wiejska Solidarność), was founded in Warsaw on December 14, 1980. By early 1981 Solidarity had a membership of about 10 million people and represented most of the work force of Poland.
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PolandLabour and taxation…its satellite organizations, such as Rural Solidarity (Wiejska Solidarność), were officially suppressed, and the leaders of the independent labour movement were denounced as “criminals.” The party ordered its managers and ministers to create new trade unions affiliated with the government-sponsored All Poland Trade Unions Alliance (Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Związków Zawodowych; OPZZ)…
Read More…its satellite organizations, such as Rural Solidarity (Wiejska Solidarność), were officially suppressed, and the leaders of the independent labour movement were denounced as “criminals.” The party ordered its managers and ministers to create new trade unions affiliated with the government-sponsored All Poland Trade Unions Alliance (Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Związków Zawodowych; OPZZ)…
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