SITUATION REPORTS - POLAND

Created: 8/27/1980

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

POLAND

Stsfcn Cardinal Uyssynaki yesterday came close to explicitly asking Polish strikers to return to uork.

Speaking to an estimated crowdn Czestochowa, the Polish Primate said that there is nong without work and that "not working"ery costly argument. He also counseled that "one oust not demand tooerhapselief that the strikers are being too uncompromising.

The government broadcast Wyszynski's homily* nationwide prime time television, one of the few times the Polish media haveeligious event. Regime leaders undoubtedly hope that Wyszynski's message will help put the workersood to compromise. They can also claim that thetep toward meeting the strikers' demand that the church have greater access to the media. Ss^r -

The reaction of'strikers to the televised message is not yet available. Workers have interpreted earlier, more ambiguous Church statements as support for their cause and could read the same message into the Cardinal's remark that "manight to abstain from working when there is no other way to emphasize his importance."

for Data

0

Touqh Negotiations

The strikers and regime have both adopted very toagh bargaining stances. Ouring the official negotiatingin Gdansk, the strike leaders firmly restated their demand for free trade unions and threatened toationwide general strike if the demand is not met. fl^fe;

Chief governmentortedlywilling to concede to workers the right to strike into keep the talks focused on economic matters and refused to discuss the issue of free trade unions. The two sides reportedly agreed toub-cc^nisEion of "experts" debate the issue. AmbbbsI

regime seemed to be signaling last night that -it is near the limits of what it is prepared to concede on the free trade union issue, ramatically worded statement on national television last evening, Ryszard -Wojna, an editor of the party daily, said that there are certain subjects that cannot be discussed and "where peoples' power cannot and has no right toe'1-explicitly said that Poland is in the Soviet sphere of influence and that any basic change in Poland'scal system could bring "dangerous consequences." He raijsed the specternationalto the partitioning of Poland in theevelopangerous

"Wojna's.statement could reflect thef an important" Politburo meeting yesterdaythat forced Jagiolski to delay negotiations in Gdansk and fly back to Warsaw. The Politburo may also have felt compelled to take.this emotion-laden stand in reaction to accumulating evidence that the labor unrest isng. Strikes.have been reported in Lodz, Wroclaw, and'-

IR

eWesaTJ sVm

0

elsewhere. At Least seme of these strikes arc clearly demonstrations of solidarity with the workers in Gdansk. At the large tractor factory in Ursus, for Instance, workers haveSolidarity Committee" but have continued to work. esBBBBss*

The meeting yesterday of the official trade union organization probably did little to convince strikers that the party is serious about trade union reform. The former conservative union boss was removed, butandidate member of the party's Central Committee who has cone up through union ranks.

mticipate'Polish nilitaryss contingents prepare for the major Warsaw Pact exercise to be held in East Germany in early September. It will be increasingly difficult to determine whether such activity is related to domestic Polish developments or to tha Warsaw Pact exercise. 4fffJ>

Soviet Govcrncent Comments

In Moscow's first official government comment on Poland's troubles,oreign ministry spokesmandescribed the events as "purely an internal affair of thatmplicitly warning the Wast againstthe situation and, at the same time, attemptinc toallay Western fears of Soviet intervention."

Original document.

---

---