Solidarity Fails in Final Court Plea
Solidarity lost its final legal appeal on Friday to reinstate a chapter of the outlawed trade organization at the Lenin Shipyard, birthplace of the first independent union in the East Bloc.
The Polish Supreme Court upheld a decision by the local court in the Baltic seaport of Gdansk.
The Supreme Court said the decision was based on grounds that regulations allowing for union pluralism in Poland were suspended following the imposition of martial law in December, 1981.
The rise of the Solidarity movement in Gdansk under Lech Walesa in the summer of 1980 gave Poland a third pillar of power in addition to the Communist government and Roman Catholic Church.
But the first independent trade union in the history of the East Bloc was banned in 1982, two years after it was officially recognized.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
