Retreating under pressure

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IN WHAT appears to be a substantial retreat from previous public pronouncements, the underground leadership of Poland's Solidarnose trade union has called off its series of street demonstrations called to mark the first anniversary of martial law.

The martial law crackdown was the first decisive step through which the country's ruling Stalinist bureaucracy has moved to crush and now formally declare illegal the ten million strong union, whose growing power had become a major threat to the political power of the bureaucrats.

The Jaruzelski leadership has announced its intention to convene a session of the Polish parliament. the Sejm, on December 13. the anniversary of martial law: and it I gainsington the same date the martial law restrictions will be lifted.

This would buy the freeing of prisoners interned without trial - and the regime's stooge body, the fattiotic Movement tor National Rebirth, has suggested a government amnesty for those tried and jailed for offences against martial law regulations.

Perhaps partly taken in by this talk of liberalisation; probably influenced by the apparently patchy and weak response to its November 10 general strike call; and certainly under heavy pressure from the Catholic Church hierarchy, which has struck an obvious if tacit agreement with the Stalinist leaders, the Solidarnosc underground leadership has pulled back from its planned demonstrations, and placed itself at the disposal of the released Lech Walesa.

Walesa, who has asked for a month to decide his course of action after eleven months under arrest, has also obviously been further pressurised by Church leaders into taking a conciliatory In their statement the Solidarnosc leaders fail explicitly to call for restoration of their organisation's status as a recognised union, though they do call for the reinstatement of all those sacked under martial law and the return of all organisations banned or suspended under it - which may include Solidarnosc.

They argue that future agrement with the government would require the liberalisation of censorship laws and the introduction of selfmanagement in industry.

But the response from the bureaucracy to these concessions from Solidarnose was gruffly to dismiss. them as "of no significance whatsoever" • Though seeking for their own reasons - in particular the reopening of normalised diplomatic relations with the Western bankers and negotiation of renewed and rescheduled loans - to life the martial law, there is no sign at all that the bureaucracy is prepared to make concessions to Solidarnosc.

The answer from the international workers movement must be to maintain the fight, demanding the recognition of Solidarnosc as a trade union. In Britain this must mean that socialists should press ahead with building the maximum lab= our movement contingent on the national demonstration called on December 12 by the Polish Solidarity Campaign.

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Socialist Organiser nu. 111, December 2, 1982. Page 5 ews • arit reni( IN ig:1tps y :3000

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by Harry Sloạn