Walesa Says He’s Open to Talks on Legalizing Union

Lech Walesa said Friday that the Communist Party’s proposal to legalize Solidarity does not go far enough but that he is willing to talk with the government if the union’s leadership agrees.

“Seeing all the needs and necessities, I will try to do everything on my side to begin talks about Poland . . . as soon as possible,” the Solidarity leader said after meeting with workers at the Gdansk shipyard, where the union was founded in 1980.

Walesa said at a news conference that he was only expressing his own opinion and that he would consult with other Solidarity leaders over the weekend. The trade union will announce its position soon after that, he said.

“I will want to take advantage of all chances for agreement for Poland because we need it so badly. Time really presses us,” he said.

Poland’s leader, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, endorsed the proposal in Warsaw on Thursday as a “momentous event” for the nation.

He said Solidarity could be legalized if the independent trade union federation agreed to respect the law.

The resolution also says new unions must stop accepting financial support from the West. It does not contain a timetable for legalization or call on new unions to refrain from striking, but party leaders have suggested a two-year trial period with no strikes.

Poles watched Jaruzelski’s news conference on television and could read about the Communist Party proposal in Friday’s newspapers, which carried the full text of the position paper on political and trade union freedoms.

“One can state--without any fear of misusing these words--that Poland is entering a qualitatively new stage of transformations of her political system,” said a commentary in Zycie Warszawy, a Warsaw daily.

But Alfred Miodowicz, the head of the official OPZZ trade union alliance, who voted against the party proposal, said rank-and-file workers were not prepared for the changes.

“The situation is very tense in the country, and I think we are facing very serious events in enterprises,” he said at a news conference Friday. “Although the intent of this position was to bring about a peaceful mood in enterprises, it seems to me the effect could be just the opposite.”

However, although he voted against the party proposal at the Central Committee meeting, he appeared resigned to having more than one union at workplaces.

The Communist Party’s Central Committee approved the union proposal Wednesday in a resolution that said Solidarity could be legalized as long as it is nonviolent, respects the constitution and the law and helps reform the hard-pressed economy.

Jaruzelski Subdued

“Trade unions will be such as the working people want them to be,” said the resolution, made public Thursday.

A subdued Jaruzelski said at a rare news conference in Warsaw that “our offer is honest and serious.”

Asked if he would meet with Walesa, whom he had detained for 11 months after declaring martial law in 1981, Jaruzelski said: “Never say never.”

The dramatic reversal by Jaruzelski and other party leaders underlined the failure of a seven-year campaign to eradicate the independent union movement and the personal popularity of Walesa.

Mood Worsened

The leadership, shocked by strikes in May and August and confronted by a worsening public mood, began to view Walesa as a potential partner in economic and political reforms aimed at reviving the failing economy.

At a news conference in Gdansk on Thursday, Walesa said he needed to examine the party proposal carefully.

Walesa noted the nation’s deepening troubles, saying, “In connection with all that, it is more difficult that in 1980 to do everything.

“But we also have gained some experience,” he continued. “I am an optimist, although we will face very difficult things.”

Offer Called ‘Band-Aid’

Walesa said the legalization offer is a “Band-Aid,” with the party going only as far as it had to because of the pressing crisis, but no further.

“It is very much (of a change) for the party. I repeat, very much,” he said. “But as it goes for social expectations, it is a little bit too little. . . . You may say it is only what is necessary for today. . . . It is like a Band-Aid for today.”

Jaruzelski said the offer was “honest” and represented a “momentous event” for Poland.

“I will try to say something, when I see what it’s like,” Walesa said.

‘We Cannot Give Up’

He said that under no conditions would he accept a government offer that deprives Solidarity of its freedom.

“After all the experiences, losses and struggles, we cannot give up our independence or sovereignty,” he said.

“If we blow it here, other people will have to deal with the same problem again. I don’t want my son or his generation to live through such things again, where it all accumulates, rots and then explodes.”

“We cannot destroy this chance (by conceding too much), but at the same time we should not struggle for some ambitious details,” he said.

Nationwide Exposure

The party position was printed in newspapers nationwide Friday and Jaruzelski’s Thursday news conference was broadcast on radio and television. There also were short reports on Walesa’s views.

Legalization of Solidarity has become increasingly important because of the poor economy, Walesa said.

He also rejected concerns raised by party hard-liners who question whether Solidarity can be trusted to operate peacefully.