Stoppage steers Poland towards new crisis

Press, 28 March 1981, Page 9

Stoppage steers Poland towards new crisis

NZPA-Reuter Warsaw • The Polish free trade union Solidarity expected to bring 10 million workers out on strike for four hours early today in the biggest organised labour protest in Poland since the Communists took power in 1944. The stoppage, which the union has threatened to follow up with an indefinite general strike from Tuesday, has set Poland on course for its most serious political crisis since last (northern) summer’s worker revolt. Prospects of last-minute negotiations averting a strike slumped yesterday when the Government postponed a crucial round of peace talks with Solidarity. The authorities were reported to be engaged in behind-the-scenes preparations for a vital meeting of the Communist Party’s central committee tomorrow. The Prime Minster (General Wojciech Jaruzelski) met Poland’s Roman Catholic Primate (Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski) in a last-minute bid to head off the strike, but official sources reported there had been no breakthrough. The tension now gripping the country was demonstrated on Thursday as housewives rushed to buy supplies after predictions on

Wednesday that only enough food was left for 12 more davs. In Washington, President Ronald Reagan expressed American fears that the Polish authorities might be preparing to use force to put down labour unrest and that the Soviet Union might be planning repressive action in Poland. The official Soviet news agency Tass alleged that Solidarity and the Polish dissident group K.O.R. were to blame for an “extremely tense” situation. Today’s strike was prompted by police action against union members in the provincial town of Bydgoszcz last week. Solidarity demanded the punishment of officials it accused of being responsible for brutality'. It also made other demands, including a halt to legal proceedings against dissidents as the price for calling off today’s stoppage and next week’s general strike. Western ambassadors were reported to have been’ summoned to the Foreign Ministry yesterday to be told again of Poland’s dire economic plight and asked for urgent aid from their governments. But in the midst of. a deepening crisis, the Polish

leaders maintained an outward air of calm and even confidence. The party leader, Stanislaw Kania, repeated at a high-level briefing to news media chiefs that he was still committed to a political and peaceful solution. The commitment of Mr Kania and his Prime Minister may come under fire at tomorrow’s central committee meeting in which hardliners and reformers could be set for a final showdown. Despite the strike, which knocks a hole in General Jaruzelski’s call for 90 days of social peace, Government and union leaders said they were still searching for a settlement and more talks were scheduled for today. The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Mieczyslaw Rakowski), who was appointed to take charge of Govern-ment-union relations, issued a tough statement on Wednesday accusing Solidarity of turning political and trying to wage a holy war against Communism. The official news agency Pap yesterday published a reply from Solidarity’s leader, Lech Walesa, who’ said the union was not attacking Communism but wanted to ensure that the far-reaching changes which have taken place remained a reality.

“We cannot allow those who have so often disappointed the working class to remain,” Mr Walesa said. He pointed to labour revolts in 1956. 1970 and 1976 which ended in repression and failure. Solidarity has called only one other national strike, which was for one hour last October to press the authorities into speeding up official, recognition of the movement. In Washington, Mr Reagan warned the Soviet Union that any intervention in Polandcould gravely affect EastWest relations. In a stronly-worded statement reflecting growing concern among American officials that either Moscow or the Polish Government might use force soon against the labour movement, Mr Reagan said he would view any such action with “deep concern.” He told a National Security Council meeting yesterday that he was increasingly worried about tensions in Poland and Administration officials said during the day that the situation was critical and could explode by the week-end. They felt there were ominous signs that Moscow’s patience with Polish labour strife could be nearing an end and that today’s national strike might bring matters to a head.