Movement towards Workers Democracy-Solidarity in Poland

Solidarity in Poland Amrita Chhachhi Ravi Arvind Palat Paul Kurian The struggle by the working class in Poland, of which there have been three earlier manifesto' tions (1956, 1970-71 and 1976), is located in problems which originate in the specific form in which pro- duction is organised. The control exercised by the bureaucracy over production, distribution and con- sumption puts fetters on rapid economic progress. It is in the context of the background of the battle at the shopfloor and factory level, between the drive to increase production and the workers' resistance to it, that one can situate the emergence of Solidarity;and the imposition of martial law represents the culmination of the experiences gained currently and over the three earlier cycles of struggle.