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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2002
Alina Pienkowska
Jan. 12, 1952 - Oct. 17, 2002 She was a nurse working at the Gdansk shipyards, an
activist, and a widowed young mother. Alina Pienkowska was crucial to the
formation of Solidarity (Solidarnosc) in Poland in 1980. The historic strike started over the firing of Anna
Walentynowicz. At the time the workers did not think it would amount to much,
perhaps an hour, maybe a day of occupation of the shipyards. But on the second
day the whole coastal tri-city struck. The director agreed to take the fired
workers back and grant wage raises. This was more than the original demand, so
Lech Walesa signed off on the agreement and told people the strike is over, go
home. As most of the 15,000 shipyard workers were flooding out of the gates,
Alina Pienkowska and Anna Walentynowicz tried to stop them, and asked them to
close the gates and continue the strike for the sake of those who had gone on
strike in solidarity and whose grievances had not been addressed. (See
January-February 1982 N&L) Continuing the Gdansk shipyard strike in solidarity with
other, smaller workplaces, gave the new trade union and the whole social
movement its defining character. Solidarity. It was its very name and foundation
of the movement. Pienkowska grew with the experience: "Here in the shipyard
I stopped being afraid and became a real person." She had an unparalleled insight into the struggle: "In
August 1980 the women in Gdansk were very active in building Solidarity and in
the strike. They fought for the rights of all human beings....But we have not
been able to win our concrete demands that are important to us women. Taken all
in all, I have come to the conclusion that we must struggle more for the women's
cause." When martial law was declared, she was detained for over a
year. She continued her dedication to Solidarity for decades after. Through her acts she expressed a universal spirit of
solidarity. Through her words she expressed a critique from which we can still
learn today. She will be missed. --Urszula Wislanka |
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