Walesa Fails to Persuade Militant Coal Miners to End Walkout

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, pressing his appeal to militant strikers, spent a long day Friday trying to persuade the holdouts to give him a chance to negotiate with the Polish government for legalization of the outlawed trade union movement.

But after six hours of intense discussions, speeches and a rally at the July Manifesto coal mine in Jastrzebie, the miners still had not agreed to give up their walkout, which helped start a nationwide wave of labor unrest 17 days ago.

At the same time, Premier Zbigniew Messner made a surprise appearance at the nearby Borynia coal mine to discuss workers’ concerns, according to reports in the Polish media. The mine is one of three struck earlier that reportedly might be hit again because of continuing tension over strikers’ job security and pay.

At the July Manifesto site, management spokesman Antoni Pilny acknowledged that “the two sides are still locked in debate over the guarantees of personal safety” for strikers. It is not known how many people remained inside the mine.

The strikers’ other remaining center was in the Baltic port city of Szczecin, where more than 2,000 dock and bus workers reportedly said they would end their 16-day-old walkout today if managers guarantee that strike organizers will not be disciplined.

Walesa made his appeals after a meeting Wednesday in Warsaw with Gen. Czeslaw Kiszczak, the minister of internal affairs, the first discussions between the government and Solidarity in six years. According to Walesa, the government has agreed to discuss the legalization of the union.

But die-hard strikers have expressed skepticism about the government’s sincerity, and some have held out for continuing the walkouts as the union’s only leverage to force the government to keep its promise to talk.

After a grueling day Thursday persuading shipyard workers in Gdansk to call off their lengthy strike, Walesa drove more than 400 miles to Jastrzebie, in the southwestern region of Silesia.

Solidarity officials in Warsaw said they believe that the walkouts would end within the next few days but were reluctant to say whether Walesa would have to visit each of the strike sites.

Jerzy Urban, the chief government spokesman, praised Walesa for his effort to put an end to the strikes.

“We appreciate any positive and reasonable step,” Urban said. “The appeal to stop the strikes is such a step. It should be especially valued when it comes from a participant in the strikes.”

No timetable has been set for further meetings between Solidarity and the government, but it is expected that at least two more preliminary discussions will be held before the government begins the round-table talks it proposed last week.