Contrasts of the Labor Movements of Poland and the United States

The Solidarity movement that occurred in the 1980s was a Polish labor movement, something that was missing under the former Soviet block country. However, it was not a movement just for those working in the industrial sector. The importance of this feature was laid out uniquely. Why; because it included all workers whether they were industrial, manual workers, intellectuals or white-collar workers. It did not matter because of workers of all kinds needed to be liberated from what was called a command economy.

Similar to the American labor movement, the Solidarity movement was also referred to a democratization movement. The movement attempted to make the country as democratic as possible, but also under the umbrella of difficult political conditions. The Polish movement wanted to make their elections really account for something rather than just an idea which was not possible on a national level.

The elections always followed democratic procedures and it was easier because the elections and the counting of votes followed simple rules, much like the American labor movement.

The beginnings of this movement began when the Polish government granted new price increases in the summer of 1980. As a result, labor unrest spread across the nation and was partly the result by local complaints of the workers of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk who went on strike. This is a similar philosophy of the American labor movement was to strike when things went wrong or they were wronged themselves. This movement was lead by a veteran strike leader, Lech Walesa. The strikers stood their ground in the shipyards and issued demands for labor reforms and more civil rights as a union.

Moreover, another similarity with the American version of a union was a priority to establish a trade union that was not controlled by government and effectively had the legal right to strike when talks failed. The workers at Gdansk held out until the government gave up. This philosophy and idea is the same as the American movement when it comes to companies not giving into the demands of the union, the right to strike when bargaining fails.

In 1980-81, several showdowns between the Solidarity Movement and the communist state were decided by Solidarity's effective and strong strikes. It was so powerful that it lead the movement to areas of the economy such as agricultural enterprises, which became the Rural Solidarity.

Nevertheless, there was a militant wing of the Solidarity movement that fought to make the communist regime unstable and attempted to force major changes by utilizing major strikes and demonstrations. As one can see, the unions in the United States have used such tactics and the union that usually stands out the most is the Teamsters Union. Naturally, an American union strike was not against the U.S. government but against the company they worked for. The process, nonetheless, is the same.

What helped the new labor movement in Poland was the defeat of the PZPR in 1989 which effectively removed a force that they hated to deal with; the common enemy of communism and state controlled labor.

By the time local union elections were held in 1990, the Solidarity movement had broken up into a huge number of small parties which that labor movement continues today.

The differences between the American labor movement into unions and the Solidarity movement in Poland mainly focuses on a few points.

One of the major differences was that the United States was a free nation that had, established itself with the Bill of Rights, a Constitution, and the pursuit of happiness and liberty. In Poland, everything from labor, to industry and even people's lives were controlled by the government. They had no bargaining agreements, rights, better working conditions because they were under the Soviet Union's control.

While the labor movement in the Untied States was more or less, less violent and had a better and more successful starts, Poland and the Solidarity Movement had huge obstacles to overcome, violence was active and some were jailed without due cause. The old Soviet Union regime did not want any labor movements to exist. For such labor unions to exist, the communist government would lose control of something that they had controlled for several decades.

Lastly, the political landscapes as well as different political systems between the United States and the Soviet Union played a major part on how unions became to be.

The similarities have some interesting points.

The very beginnings of the history of the United States extended their hands to trade unions. It was from this beginning, the American roots led the formation of labor movements, while the roots of the labor movement in Poland did not begin with its formation as a country. However, one could argue that it did begin as the Soviet Union Empire began to collapse, which in turn, a new Poland was born.

Both nations wanted the same thing which is an effort by unions to improve the workers conditions, whether it came from negotiations or utilizing the worker strike method to gain an edge of what they want, through either negotiation or strike action. Also, both nations trade movements splintered into various types of unions, both large and small and local and national unions.

Each country with its trade union movement basically held the same philosophical and goals and that is equal worker rights, better wages and benefits, free to welcome companies to accept them and to improve their economies and their lives. Furthermore, both nations wanted as little government intervention as possible and when government intervention was needed, the laws had to be fair and guidelines had to be laid out so that hopefully, whatever agreements that were reached, it would satisfy each side, especially for Poland.

The United States labor movement took many years to achieve what they have achieved today. That is not to say that the U.S. labor movement has declined in numbers in recent years, but they have achieved many milestones along the way. In contrast, Poland went through a much more rigid, hard fought campaign against a communist regime, especially with Moscow where rights and government control of everything was the norm. Nevertheless, the U.S. and the Solidarity movement in Poland still foresaw a better future for their country and both nations more or less achieved those goals.

References:

The Labor Union Movement in America

http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Eco_Unionization.htm

The Birth of Solidarity

http://countrystudies.us/poland/19.htm

Solidarity

http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/Baker_00/2001_p6/baker_jl_al_sh_p6/solidarity.htm

Central Europe Review

http://www.ce-review.org/01/27/solidarity27.html

Fossum, J. (2002). Labor relations; development, structure, process. 8th edition. New York, McGraw-Hill Irwin.