Strikes force concessions
Poland's Communist rulers wisely came to terms some time ago with the nation's fiercely independent and outspoken Catholic Church. They have also learned to live with an agricultural system that, unlike the Soviet model, leaves 75% of the country's farms in private hands. Last week, under pressure from a wave of peaceful but illegal strikes in factories across the country, Party Leader Edward Gierek seemed to be heading toward another ideological compromise: de facto recognition of an amorphous independent trade-union movement.
The most recent Polish workers' strikes erupted after the government announced on July 2 that an increased...
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