Govt offers TV time for end to strikes

Press, 2 September 1981, Page 9

Govt offers TV time for end to strikes

NZPA-Reuter Warsaw

The Polish Government has offered the Solidarity free trade union extra air time for the union's first national congress, beginning in Gdansk on Saturday, in exchange for social peace. A Government spokesman. Jerzy Urban, said the proposal, made yesterday during five hours of talks, hinged on the union ensuring social peace as the Government could not negotiate in the face of strikes and tensions.

Solidarity's national spokesman, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, said the proposal would be presented to the union’s national commission for consideration.

Under the proposal Solidarity will be given 30-35 minutes air time during each

day of the three-day congress on channel one .'of Polish State television and 3 v z hours daily on channel two. Many rural areas only reiceve channel one.

According to the proposal the authorities would select the broadcasting crews to cover the congress with the unions authorising their content.

The Government proposal also calls . for Solidarity (members to be included on 'the news team and the programming content to be authorised by the union before going on the air. The proposal also includes holding talks on the general issue of Solidarity's access to the broadcasting media during the interval between the first and second stage of the congress.

The first stage of the congress will centre on Solidarity’s general platform and the final stage, to be held towards the end’ of the month, will involve the-elec-tion of the union’s national leadership.

Mr Onyszkiewicz told reporters the Government negotiating team had rejected two Solidarity proposals for covering the congress.

He said one had called for separate coverage by two broadcasting teams representing the authorities and Solidarity. The other would have allowed the Government to choose members of a single news team provided they all belonged to Solidarity.

Mr Onvszkiewicz said the

precedent for the second alternative had been set during July's Communist Party congress where coverage was provided solely by journalists -belonging to the party. - ’

The . Union spokesman added that,a separate Solidarity news team would have been prepared to submit its footage to Government censorship. .. He said he did not think Solidarity's national commission, due to meet today, would be prepared to exchange good coverage of the congress for political concessions.

Mr Onyszkiewicz said calling off all protest actions would mean remaining silent even if Solidarity’s members in the broadcasting community were harassed.