Free Trade Unions of the Coast ( pl, Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża, WZZW, also translated as the Committee for Independent Trade Unions for the Coast) were a government-independent

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

. This trade union was founded in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

on 29 April 1978 by

Andrzej Gwiazda Andrzej Gwiazda (born 14 April 1935 in Pińczów) is an engineer and prominent opposition leader, who participated in Polish March 1968 Events and December 1970 Events; one of the founders of Free Trade Unions, Member of the Presiding Committee ...

, Krzysztof Wyszkowski and Antoni Sokołowski. The choice of the date was not accidental: the founders issued a declaration that "today, on the eve of the

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

, the holiday symbolizing for more than eighty years the struggle for workers' rights, we constitute the Initiating Committee of the Free Trading Unions (''Komitet Założycielski Wolnych Związków Zawodowych'')". Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', Penn State Press, 1994
Google Print, p.162
/ref> The founders also condemned official, state-subordinated trade unions as a "subordinated instrument for the organized exploitation of all social groups". Matthew J. Ouimet, ''The Rise and Fall of the Brezhnev Doctrine in Soviet Foreign Policy'', UNC Press, 2003
Google Print, p.108
/ref> Free Trade Unions of the Coast were not a national organization and organized workers only from the coastal ' Tricity' area. They were one of several free trade unions founded in Poland in the late 1970s (others were founded in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975– ...

and

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a majo ...

). The Free Trade Unions of the Coast were likely the most significant trade union in Poland before the advent of NSZZ

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

(''Solidarność''). Michael D. Kennedy, ''Professionals, Power and Solidarity in Poland: A Critical Sociology of Soviet-Type Society'', Cambridge University Press, 199
Google Print, p.50
/ref> The idea of forming independent trade unions was first raised by the striking workers during the coastal cities events in 1970. Free Trade Unions of the Coast were a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

, independently defending citizen's and workers rights to create organizations free from control from the state and working towards restoring democratic controls in Poland. It had its own underground biweekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...

(

bibuła Polish underground press, devoted to prohibited materials ( sl. pl, bibuła, lit. semitransparent blotting paper or, alternatively, pl, drugi obieg, lit. second circulation), has a long history of combatting censorship of oppressive regimes in ...

), '' Robotnik Wybrzeża'' (Worker of the Coast). Michael Bernhard, Henryk Szlajfer, ''From The Polish Underground'', Penn State Press, 2004
Google Print, p.405
/ref> By the summer of 1980 the Free Trade Unions of the Coast drawing support from ROPCiO and KOR, became the stronghold of the free trade union movement in Poland. Shana Penn, ''Solidarity's Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland'', University of Michigan Press, 2005

Google Print, p.45] Free Trade Unions organized the Strike action, strike in Lenin Shipyard in

in August 1980, and were instrumental in the creation of

Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (or ''Inter-Factory Strike Committee'', pl, Międzyzakładowy Komitet Strajkowy, MKS) was an action strike committee formed in Gdańsk Shipyard, People's Republic of Poland on 16 August 1980. It was led by Lec ...

(''Międzyzakładowy Komitet Strajkowy''), whose 21 demands led to the signing of the

Gdańsk Agreement The Gdańsk Agreement (or ''Gdańsk Social Accord(s)'' or ''August Agreement(s)'', pl, Porozumienia sierpniowe) was an accord reached as a direct result of the strikes that took place in Gdańsk, Poland. Workers along the Baltic went on strike i ...

and eventually to the creation of the famous NSZZ

(''Solidarność'').

Quotes

:From the founding declaration of the Free Trade Unions * “the society will not struggle for the right to democratic government (...) the genuine social organizations and associations may save the country, since the only means to consolidate the interests and will of the citizens with the interests and the power of the country is democratization�

References

External links

The Free Trade Unions
Institute of National Remembrance, Institute of National Remembrance website * :pl:Andrzej Bulc {{DEFAULTSORT:Free Trade Unions Of The Coast 1978 establishments in Poland Nonviolent resistance movements Solidarity (Polish trade union) Trade unions in Poland Trade unions established in 1978 Polish People's Republic