Solidarity, Rival Unions Rally to Save Shipyard

Rival Polish labor unions and management staged an unprecedented rally Wednesday in Gdansk, vowing to defy government closure of the Lenin Shipyard as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrived for a visit that will include a trip to the troubled seaport.

The banned Solidarity independent trade union, Communist-dominated unions and the director of the Lenin Shipyard joined 7,000 workers to condemn the government’s plan to padlock Solidarity’s birthplace on Dec. 1.

“We protest the political decision dealing with the liquidation of the cradle of Solidarity,” a Solidarity statement said after the rally. “We shall not give up the shipyard.”

In the first threat of strikes since the controversy erupted Monday, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa said a wave of simultaneous walkouts may be organized if the Lenin Shipyard is not kept open.

‘We Shall Fight’

“If he (Premier Mieczyslaw Rakowski) does not withdraw from his decision, then we shall fight,” he said.

On Friday, Thatcher is to travel to Gdansk for a private meeting with Walesa.

Thatcher, the first British prime minister to visit Poland, was whisked to a government guest house, where she met with Rakowski for an hour. There were no immediate details of the meeting.

Rakowski on Monday announced the closure of the shipyard, saying it is unprofitable. The government also will shut down 149 other enterprises to save money.

The rally in Gdansk was the first time Solidarity, the legalized Communist unions and Lenin Shipyard director Czeslaw Tolwinski have united, raising prospects of a crippling national movement against Rakowski’s economic reforms.

‘Stronger Today’

“We were stronger today than in August, 1980, (when Solidarity was born) because then the management was against us,” Walesa said after the rally. “Now all the groups are united, and we proved that pluralism is possible.”

Tolwinski disputed the government’s reasons for closing the facility.

“The economic argument cannot be justified,” he said. “The financial situation is good. There are no reasons to close the shipyard.”

Walesa said the coalition is united for economic, not ideological, reasons. “Tolwinski does not identify himself with us (Solidarity),” he said.

The Solidarity statement said the announcement of the closure of the shipyard on the Baltic Sea was timed to trigger a strike during Thatcher’s visit.

The government has praised Thatcher for her independence and resolve, including her campaign to improve economic efficiency and profits. Officials have acknowledged the potential of labor unrest during her visit but point out that she had trouble when she began closing coal mines.

Solidarity said it would not allow anyone to be provoked into a strike but did not rule one out if the closure was not rescinded.

In another statement, Solidarity said talks between the government and Walesa are unlikely because the decision to close the shipyard “was significant proof that the authorities do not intend to regard those discussions seriously.”

The government had proposed the talks, with the possible re-legalization of Solidarity as one of the topics, in exchange for Walesa’s help in ending strikes in August.

Thatcher wound up her first evening in Poland at a meeting with economic experts and Catholic leaders, telling them Britain got back on track by privatizing state industry and turning more to a market-oriented economy.