WALESA RELEASED FROM JAIL:

November 14, 1982

Lech Walesa, leader of communist Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, returns
to his apartment in Gdansk after 11 months of internment in a remote hunting
lodge near the Soviet border. Two days before, hundreds of supporters had begun
a vigil outside his home upon learning that the founder of Poland's trade union
movement was being released. When Walesa finally did return home, on November
14, he was lifted above the jubilant crowd and carried to the door of his
apartment, where he greeted his wife and then addressed his supporters from a
second-story window. Walesa, born in 1943, was an electrician at the Lenin
Shipyard in Gdansk when he was fired for union agitation in 1976. When protests
broke out in the Gdansk shipyard over an increase in food prices in August 1980,
Walesa climbed the shipyard fence and joined the thousands of workers inside. He
was elected leader of the strike committee, and three days later the strikers'
demands were met. Walesa then helped coordinate other strikes in Gdansk and
demanded that the Polish government allow the free formation of trade unions and
the right to strike. On August 30, the government conceded to the strikers'
demands, legalizing trade unionism and granting greater freedom of religious and
political expression. Millions of Polish workers and farmers came together to
form unions, and Solidarity was formed as a national federation of unions, with
Walesa as its chairman. Under Walesa's charismatic leadership, the organization
grew in size and political influence, soon becoming a major threat to the
authority of the Polish government. On December 13, 1981, martial law was
declared in Poland, Solidarity was outlawed, and Walesa and other labor leaders
were arrested.In November 1982, overwhelming public outcry forced Walesa's
release, but Solidarity remained illegal. In 1983, Walesa was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize. Fearing involuntary exile, he declined to travel to Norway to
accept the award. Walesa continued as leader of the now-underground Solidarity
movement, and he was subjected to continual monitoring and harassment by the
communist authorities.In 1988, deteriorating economic conditions led to a new
wave of labor strikes across Poland, and the government was forced to negotiate
with Walesa. In April 1989, Solidarity was again legalized, and its members were
allowed to enter a limited number of candidates in upcoming elections. By
September, a Solidarity-led government coalition was in place, with Walesa's
colleague Tadeusz Mazowiecki as premier. In 1990, Poland's first direct
presidential election was held, and Walesa won by a landslide.President Walesa
successfully implemented free-market reforms, but unfortunately he was a more
effective labor leader than president. In 1995, he was narrowly defeated in his
reelection by former communist Aleksander Kwasniewski, head of the Democratic
Left Alliance.