§# U.S. Daily World international affairs _ Writer Conrad Komorowski spoke in To-

following his recent five-week visit to that country. Tribune readers will recall Komorowski’s articles in this paper as he travelled through Poland, speaking to Workers and leaders.. Sharing the. plat- form with Komorowski was’. William

| of Canada, whose remarks will be car- § ‘ied in next week's i issue.

‘‘When did you ever read in the Wall .Street Journal stories helpful to work- ers?”’, Komorowski began. ‘‘Of course, when.they speak of ‘‘workers’’ they’re talking about. Solidarity.”’

He quoted other major U.S. news- Magazines and their coverage of Polish €vents over the past months (and he:

-f mentioned the Canadian press, too) and pointed out that the big business media has voiced its support for Polish work- ers’ demands to hide their real intent: to Split the workers from their government, to weaken the socialist state.

“It’s also interesting,” “to see the powerful AFL-CIO, in the midst of a New York City transit strike, raising funds for Polish Solidarity — but not a penny for New York transit work- ers. ‘

' “And during the copper workers’ strike they again backed Solidarity, not the copper workers .

“I went to Poland to see what was taking place. I found that democracy in Poland was being opposed and that Sol-

-idarity was set up as an opposition or- ganization.’’ Komorowski explained

® that the 7-8 million members of Solidarity

Cannot be viewed in the same light as the

leadership which manipulates it.

—

YU TT

“But the aims of its leaders ‘are clear.”’ He quoted the strategy outlined by one

year: ‘‘We must be careful not to put Ourselves in opposition right away. We must pursue a policy of weakening cent- ral authority ..

Komorowski charged the U.S. press is playing up the activities of Solidarity as § ‘a Sree against an oppressive re-

- gime’’, but showed this strategy results fom a long-term view expressed as far back as the 1960s when president Ken- nedy said: ‘“‘We must probe for the soft Spots in socialist Sere and Poland is one of those soft spots . :

Grievous Eivots

‘The ‘Polish United Workers’ Party Made grievous errors in socialist Management for which they are paying dearly, Komorowski said. The party had lost contact, it was bureaucratic. It failed to distinguish state and party power.

’ At its 1980 congress the PUWP called for a return to Leninist norms. That con- gress was preceded by a wide-ranging,

’ frank, country-wide discussion. There Were sharp criticisms made, resolutions passed — but the corrections were not fully carried out.

‘‘We must understand,”’ Komorowski

’ Continued, ‘‘that the 7-8 million member Solidarity exists alongside the former branch unions (4 million) and several au-

_tonomous unions (1 million). These

- unions are also voicing their opinions and criticisms of past practices.

“But they recognize that trade unions under socialist conditions do not play an

ronto May 19 on recent events in Poland -

Kashtan, leader of the Communist Party ~

he continued, .

“Solidarity is yet to hold a congress or’ have a leadership election,” he said. '

active Solidarity leader who wrote last-

FEATURE =

Conrad Komorowski on Poland

FOOD LINEUPS...

a continuing scene on Polish streets as long as production is halted.

CONRAD KOMOROWSKI... justreturned from a five week fact-finding trip to Po- land. Workers continue on socialist path.

adversary role. role, strengthening democracy, increas- ing production and building socialism. They understand that trade unions must be independent of the party. and govern- ment, but work within a socialist frame- work.”’ Solidarity’s History -

‘‘The record should be clear,’ Komorwski emphasized. ‘‘The PUWP did not oppose the formation of Solidari- ty. But it has always insisted it work within the framework of a socialist soci- ety and make its contribution to the building of that society. :

-LECH WALESA...

They play a creative ~

hé and the rest of Sol- idarity's leadership have never been elected by anyone.

‘“This Solidarity has refused to do.

“During my visit I found Solidarity refusing to take part in plant planning committees, and holding up production schedules. Despite pressure from its own membership, I found Solidarity insist- ing on acting from the outside using the strike weapon.”’

The journalist explained that Polish production has dropped 14% this year. He said: that» despite the August, 1980 signed agreements, Solidarity.continued to advance further demands and call local strikes.

“I was told by workers, ‘we don’t want to keep striking’, but Solidarity

“ate meat only once or twice a year, be- f-

.is a part of the struggle to preserve world

|Solidarity a split force

went on a 4-day ‘warning strike’ which people felt was an act of sabotage. The union’s general strike was called off only after a split in Solidarity’s leadership de- veloped.”

He pointed out following the ending of _ | government meat subsidies last summer, 125 local strikes were settled immediate- ly, including the shipyard strike in Gdansk.

Despite this, he said, Solidarity began advancing other, political, demand§ in- cluding one for a 40% wage: hike and

- others concerning the role of the church,

the media, foreign exports.

“It looked like demands were being made which the government would not or could not meet,’’ he said. *‘All were § met — but only with agreement that Sol- § idarity would recognize the socialist j State, the leading role of the PUWP and Poland’s place within the system of socialism.

**Solidarity agreed, but kept on with its struggle. It initiated local strikes using all possible excuses. Many people sup- ported such actions thinking it was the only way to effect change. They had lost that much faith in the PUWP — and this is a lesson for all _progressives..’

Speaking for Poland ‘Months later we can see what hap- § pened. We can see the development of § this process and how and why it .was accompanied by activities abroad.”’

Komorowski held up a full page ad in the New York Times titled: ‘The Cam- paign Against Poland Continues’. This ad,’’ he charged, ‘‘deliberately tries to confuse people.

“It's aim is to portray Solidarity as) § Poland. It suggests the PUWP is not Po- § land, its members are not Poland andthe | mass of the Polish people are not Poland. H

**The fact is the Polish United Work- § ers’ Party has its roots in the Polish Communist Party which was re- organized under the nose of the Gestapo §f in 1942. And that party helped lead Po- § land’s liberation struggle.

“It was. the only force in Poland to establish an illegal government under. nazi occupation. It was the party that united the movement. And that is why after the liberation it assumed the leader- ship it had already won in the course of the struggle.

** That party led Poland through a civil war against the forces led by Ukrainian fascists. It lost 6,000 members in that struggle. ‘

. “It was that party which guided Po- land’s post-war -recovery and ‘led the _| major transformation of an industrially- backward, semi-feudal country into a modern industrial country which today ranks ninth in the world.

‘The Polish peasant, who used to split a match nine ways to save money, who

came the modern Polish citizen who en- joyed a meat standard. as high as Fr- ance.’ 4

Komorowski concluded by saying e events in Poland concern all of us, that it |

peace. He emphasized that the campaign to take Poland out of the socialist camp is a key aim of the forces against peace and progress. : “The mass of Polish workers are de- § termined to-continue on the path of socialist renewal, to overcome the weaknesses in the economy,”’ he said.

ISU: NE

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 29, 1981—Page 7