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Zbigniew Bujak (born 29 November 1954) is a former Polish activist and anti-Communist dissident.
Zbigniew Bujak (born 29 November 1954) is a former Polish activist and anti-Communist dissident.
Biography
Bujak was an electrician and foreman in 1980 at the Ursustractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
factory near Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. He became engaged with trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
activists, and during the strike action
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...
, he organized strike committees at the Ursus factory. He became chairman of the Warsaw Solidarity
Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
branch in September 1980 and was one of the few Solidarity leaders who escaped arrest in 1981 after martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland () existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The Polish United Workers' Party, government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an a ...
was declared to break Solidarity. He became one of the leaders of the Solidarity's underground movement, organizing underground committees including underground press and radio. He was finally arrested in 1986, becoming the last Solidarity leader to be captured. Soon afterwards, he was released in general amnesty
Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...
, and participated in Polish Round Table Talks
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, communist Poland, from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union ''Solidarity'' and other opposition groups to defuse growing social unrest.
Hist ...
with the government in 1989. He was elected to the Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
(Polish parliament) in the 1989 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1989.
Africa
* 1989 Beninese parliamentary election
* 1989 Botswana general election
* 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election
* 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election
* 1989 ...
. In the 1990s he joined right-wing
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
, liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist.
* An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
political parties, including the Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action
The Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action (, ROAD) was a List of political parties in Poland, political faction in Poland coalescing several members of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee.
History Background
On 24 August 1989, Tadeusz Mazowi ...
, Democratic Union and Freedom Union Freedom Union can refer to:
*Freedom Union – Democratic Union, Czech republic
* (''Frælsisfylkingin'')
*Freedom Union (Poland)
The Freedom Union (, UW) was a liberal democratic political party in Poland that was active from 1994 to 2005, whe ...
. In 1992, he helped found the Labour Union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
(UP) party and was one of the party's leading members. He won a seat to the Sejm at the 1993 legislative elections, representing UP, and served as a member of parliament until 1997. He also held the position of chairman of Główny Urząd Ceł (Main Tariff's Office). In the 2000s (decade), after his 2002 defeat for the post of mayor of Warsaw
The Mayor of Warsaw (officially in ) is the head of the executive of the capital of Poland elected directly during local elections for a term of five years.
Overview
The first city mayor of Warsaw was Jan Andrzej Menich (1695–1696). Th ...
, he stopped participating actively in politics.
Bujak was a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1986.
References