Janusz Józef Śniadek (; born 26 May 1955 in

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...

) is a Polish labor and political leader who was Chairman of Solidarity in the years 2002-2010. He studied in the department of shipbuilding of the

Gdańsk University of Technology The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech, former ''GUT''; pl, Politechnika Gdańska) is a technical university in the Wrzeszcz borough of Gdańsk, and one of the oldest universities in Poland. It has eight faculties and with 41 fie ...

from 1975, and got a

Master of Engineering A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, M.E. or M.Eng.) is either an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering. International variations Australia In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research de ...

in 1981. He worked then at the

Stocznia Gdynia Stocznia Gdynia is a shipyard, located in the Port of Gdynia, Poland. It was founded in 1922. Since 2009—in liquidation—it does not conduct production activities. In 1970, workers of Gdynia Shipyard rose up against the ruling Polis ...

and joined the Solidarity anticommunist movement. During the period of Martial law in Poland, he participated in clandestine activities while contributing to the underground bulletin ''Kadłub''.Janusz Śniadek on ''Encyklopedia Solidarności''
/ref> From 1989 to 1998, he was a chairman of the Institutional Commission of Solidarity at the Stocznia Gdynia. From 1992 to 1995, he was a member of the Gdansk area's office, and from 1995 of the Union's national commission. In 1997, Janusz Śniadek became the vice-chairman of Solidarity. As an AWS member, he ran for 1997 parliamentary election but without success. In 1998, he was selected chairman of Gdansk area's office. In 2002, he was elected as the chairman of Solidarity, replacing

Marian Krzaklewski Marian Krzaklewski (; born 23 August 1950 in Kolbuszowa) is a Polish politician. A member of Solidarity since the 1980s, he was one of the most known and influential Polish politicians in the late 1990s, when he created the Solidarity Electora ...

who was criticized because of AWS' defeat in the 2001 parliamentary election. Janusz Śniadek was reelected in September 2006. He supported

European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

while considering it lacking in references to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

.Interview
on the French

CFDT The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (french: link=no, Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) is a national trade union center, one of the five major French confederations of trade unions, led since 2012 by Laurent B ...

website In October 2010, Sniadek ran a third time for Chairman of Solidarity, but was beaten by Piotr Duda, who hails from Silesia.

References

External links

Biography on Solidarity website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sniadek, Janusz 1955 births Living people Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists People from Sopot Gdańsk University of Technology alumni Polish dissidents Members of the Polish Sejm 2011–2015 Members of the Polish Sejm 2015–2019 Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023