Polish hint of strike ban

Press, 30 October 1981, Page 6

Polish hint of strike ban

NZPA-Reuter Warsaw Millions of Polish workers staged a one-hour strike yesterday in defiance of the country’s Communist rulers, who said they might be forced to outlaw strikes and take “other far-reaching decisions.”

The warning was made at a meeting of the Communist Party central committee. The Party Leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, told the committee that the strike had backfired on its organiser, the Solidarity free trade union.

General Jaruzelski, saying that manoeuvres were not made under fire, announced no immediate measures in retaliation for the strike and said there would be no sudden changes at the top. This meant that the general, who took command of the party two weeks ago with a mandate for tough action, would keep his other jobs as Prime Minister and Defence Minister for the time being. Another senior' Politburo member, Kazimierz Barcikowski, took a more threatening line. He recalled that the committee had empowered the Sejm (Parliament) to outlaw strikes when it elected General Jaruzelski party leader two weeks ago. “The Sejm will assume its attitude towards strikes at

its next session. If however, in spite of that, Solidarity’s conduct remains unchanged other far-reaching decisions will become indispensible,” Mr Barcikowski said. The Polish authorities have suggested repeatedly in recent weeks that they may be forced to declare a state of emergency. The Sejm is due to meet in Warsaw today. Solidarity said a vast majority of its 9'5 million members took part in yesterday’s strike. It was only the second time the union has staged a nationwide, protest since it was formed 14 months ago.

But General Jaruzelski said the action had exposed the political, anti-communist ambitions of the organisers and said “strike totalitarianism” had failed. Mr Barcikowski, who signed one of the original agreements with workers that gave birth to the Polish free trade union movement, said Solidarity was bent on paralysing the economy, the State, and the ruling party. “A society which approves strike terrorism must collapse," he said.