3
Jozef Pinior speaks have studies by our advisors which suggest taking up activity within them again. This is also the opinion of several trade-union representatives from the enterprises. But of course there also opposing arguments. If we decide to go for workwithin the workers councils, this would be a model of the link between (Z Dnia na Dzien, official journal of the
Jozef Pinior is the third chairman of Solidarnosc in Lower Silesia to have been
(IV No 29, May 2, 1983)
These repeated attempts to decapitate and disorient Solidarnose in this region are not surprising — the Lower Silesia Solidarnosc has been to the fore in developing a clear political line which if agreed would lead
Solidarnose to prepare for an open confrontation with the regime.
lish extracts of recent interviews with Pinior in which he expresses his point of view on some of the questions under debate in the clandestine union.
Question. Do you think there is still the possibility of a peaceful understanding with the regime?
My answer is definite. No.
That is not to say that I am a hawk, or that I want confrontation.
Quite simply, the regime has no desire for an under-
The response to this question is the basis of the programmatic statement of the TKK on January 22 (see
International Viewpoint No 27, March
There we took a clear position: the present political system
- a militarypolice system - is not reformable. The will not move towards any democracy, unless we force it to do so.
general strike seems to us inevitable.
Thus, I see two choices.
on the offensive in launching a general strike, and we begin to seriously prepare
Or we resign ourselves to years of power, they don't give it up easily.
is a question of technique of governing the bureaucratic apparatus in the barracks which each army has. Many fear that a general strike will only bring a direct military intervention by the USSR.
The only way to safeguard ourselves is the degree of preparation - the less we are prepared the more the strike will be chaotic, and the greater likelihood of a direct intervention.
Flawless organisaof regional and interenterprise communication, control of the strike by ourselves, these are the guarantees of success and that the USSR will hold back from direct military interven-
(U Nas, Solidarnose factory bulletin in
Wroclaw, No 1, February 17, 1983).
WORKERS DEFENCE GUARDS
AND SELFMANAGEMENT
What is the meaning of the fact that the draft programme of the RKS
(Regional Strike Committee in Lower
Silesia) foresees a general strike?
It's vital to understand count on the good will. of the regime, on
'agreements', or the intervention of someone in our favour is naivety. We can only count on ourselves. This is why the RKS projects a general strike at the point where the society will no longer stand
Here we pubthe increasing poverty. It is difficult to predict exactly when this will be.
But we should remember that prices are going to be raised again, that in the spring and summer the ration of meat will be lowered, the crisis in housebuilding is getting worse. We see two eventu-
Either the union calls a general strike at the point where the impoverishment of the whole society has reached the point where spontaneous movements and violent strikes are breaking out. Or we fix the date of this strike, linking it, for example, to a boycott of the elections to the Diet which should take place under the present electoral law. Personally, I think the first eventuality would be the best. In any case, preparation in the factories for the general strike is the essen-
Q. Have you thought about workers
The RKS in its draft programme announced the formation enterprises as executive bodies of the RKS. I want to emphasise that workers guards will not be used for acts of 'minor sabotage', nor to act against collab-
The purpose given to them is much more important. To prepare the factories at a practical level for the national general strike.
Q. In the December 16 declaration you talked of the links between clandestine actions, and certain forms of legal activity. What did you mean?
A. This is a very important question. We have at all costs to abandon our "programme of no' for a positive programme, particularly on the level of the economy. We should concentrate on our economic programme. that the Spanish Workers Commissions existed for more than twenty years in clandestinity. However, they had a big on the management of the enterprises through the legal bodies, such as, for example, the factory com-
At the moment we are discussing again the question of the workers councils. We
RKS, No 2/261, January 13-20 1983.)
Q. But do you think it is possible to reach such an agreement with the regime? It refused such demands in 1981?
At the time the regime didn't accept because it was a different situation. I think that, despite appearances, the regime is weaker today than before December 13. This could seem paradoxical, but it is so. Before December 13 the regime rested on other social layers than the police and the army. Today it only rests on its brute force.
The regime is faced with a choice. To continue its present policy would make Poland a colonial country, weaker and weaker - or to look for an alternative. It seems to me that the re gime cannot allow itself this destruction of the economy, this lagging behind in technology, because in time it will boomerang back on it. To keep itself in power, it will have to give something, something real, to the society, which can satisty our social aspirations.
Therefore, 1 think there is a difference between the situation before December
Today, if we put our demands forcefully, and insist on them, the regime will have to grant them.
Q. You say that the regime rests on the army and police. What can Solidarnose do so that in the future the regime won't be able to use the police and army against society, as they have done
A. This is a question above all of the
In fact, the army still has not taken a direct part in the repression. The soldiers have not found themselves confronted with a definitive question is to know what the army will
This is particularly important since the conscripts who were already in the army at the time the state of war was imposed have not experienced civilian life in the period since August 1980. They were very different from those who today form the ranks of the army.
That does not mean to say that I am optimistic about the army. am sceptical. But the situation is not so obvious for Jaruzelski either. I think that if we, the trade union as a whole, are able to cross the frontier of fear, then the army which seems to us today to be monolithic, will no longer be so. But this indeed necessitate crossing barrier of fear. (Robotnik 83, bulletin of the Co-Ordinating Committee of Solidarnose in France,
French trade unionists April 14, 1983)