Warsaw tense as Poles gauge strike support

Press, 14 May 1982, Page 6

Warsaw tense as Poles gauge strike support

NZPA-Reuter Warsaw A call for a 15-minute strike by Polish workers at noon today will test the depth of support for the suspended Solidarity trade union after exactly * five months of martial law.

The call for the stoppage was made in .underground bulletins circulating in the city and on a clandestine Radio Solidarity broadcast heard by thousands in Warsaw.

It was accompanied by another protest call for drivers to halt traffic and blow their horns for one minute at midday. The authorities have responded with a show of force designed to intimidate Solidarity supporters from public protests, and prevent

any repeat of the violent street, clashes which erupted throughout the country last week. Hundreds of vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, water cannon and trucks of . armed police, have been parked at central squares, and groups of at least four policemen with batons and automatic rifles patrol the streets. Underground Solidarity sources have spoken recently of the need for a more step-by-step approach to force the military to make concessions — in particular lifting martial law, freeing internees and restoring Solidarity. The most recent underground bulletins have included commentaries rejecting the use of simple protest demonstrations which could

be exploited by hard-liners among the authorities who favour even stricter controls on society. Two religious celebrations with strong political overtones passed off without trouble yesterday.

A mass was celebrated at Warsaw Cathedral to .mark the first anniversary of the private farmers’ union, known as Rural Solidarity. Another Mass was then said in the same place in memory of the Polish hero. Marshal Josef Pilsudski, credited with reviving the . Polish State after World War One.

During the services the congregation raised their arms and made victory signs when they sang the religious national anthem, which ends with the line: “God.restore freedom to our homeland.”