|
COPYRIGHT 2005 Smithsonian Institution
25 YEARS AGO: A STRIKE FOR FREEDOM
Workers in a Gdansk, Poland, shipyard, led by electrician Lech Walesa, 37, begin a strike on August 14, 1980, that eventually spreads to include some 400,000 workers. Their demands are unprecedented: that Poland's Communist government allow free trade unions and grant the right to strike. On August 30 the government accedes, and the Solidarity union quickly grows to ten million members. Walesa becomes Poland's president (1990-95) and wins the Nobel...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
