Solidarity with Solidarity: Western European Trade Unions and the Polish Crisis, 1980–1982 (The Harvard Cold War Studies Book Series)

The Polish crisis in the early 1980s provoked a great deal of reaction in the West. Not only governments, but social movements were also touched by the establishment of the Independent Trade Union Solidarnosc in the summer of 1980, the proclamation of martial law in December 1981, and Solidarnosc's underground activity in the subsequent years. In many countries, campaigns were set up in order to spread information, raise funds, and provide the Polish opposition with humanitarian relief and technical assistance. Labor movements especially stepped into the limelight. A number of Western European unions were concerned about the new international tension following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the new hard-line policy of the US and saw Solidarnosc as a political instrument of clerical and neo-conservative cold warriors. This book analyzes reaction to Solidarnosc in nine Western European countries and within the international trade union confederations. It argues that Western solidarity with Solidarnosc was highly determined by its instrumental value within the national context. Trade unions openly sided with Solidarnosc when they had an interest in doing so, namely when Solidarnosc could strengthen their own program or position. But this book also reveals that reaction in allegedly reluctant countries was massive, albeit discreet, pragmatic, and humanitarian, rather than vocal, emotional, and political. Annotation The Polish crisis in the early 1980s provoked a great deal of reaction in the West. Not only governments, but social movements were also touched by the establishment of the Independent Trade Union Solidarnosc in the summer of 1980, the proclamation of martial law in December 1981, and Solidarnosc's underground activity in the subsequent years. In many countries, campaigns were set up in order to spread information, raise funds, and provide the Polish opposition with humanitarian relief and technical assistance. Labor movements especially stepped into the limelight. A number of Western European unions were concerned about the new international tension following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the new hard-line policy of the US and saw Solidarnosc as a political instrument of clerical and neo-conservative cold warriors. This book analyzes reaction to Solidarnosc in nine Western European countries and within the international trade union confederations. It argues that Western solidarity with Solidarnosc was highly determined by its instrumental value within the national context. Trade unions openly sided with Solidarnosc when they had an interest in doing so, namely when Solidarnosc could strengthen their own program or position. But this book also reveals that reaction in allegedly reluctant countries was massive, albeit discreet, pragmatic, and humanitarian, rather than vocal, emotional, and political The Polish crisis in the early 1980s provoked a great deal of reaction in the West. Not only governments, but social movements were also touched by the establishment of the Iindependent Trade Union Solidarnosc in the summer of 1980, the proclamation of martial law in December 1981, and Solidarnosc's underground activity in the subsequent years. In many countries, campaigns were set up in order to spread information, raise funds, and provide the Polish opposition with humanitarian relief and technical assistance. Labor movements especially stepped into the limelight. A number of Western European unions were concerned about the new international tension following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the new hard-line policy of the US and saw Solidarnosc as a political instrument of clerical and neo-conservative cold warriors. This book analyzes reaction to Solidarnosc in nine Western European countries and within the international trade union confederations. It argues that Western solidarity with Solidarnosc was highly determined by its instrumental value within the national context. Trade unions openly sided with Solidarnosc when they had an interest in doing so, namely when Solidarnosc could strengthen their own program or position. But this book also reveals that reaction in allegedly reluctant countries was massive, albeit discreet, pragmatic, and humanitarian, rather than vocal, emotional, and political. The Polish crisis in the early 1980s provoked a great deal of interest abroad. Western governments and social movements reacted in various ways to the establishment of the independent trade union Solidarity in the summer of 1980, the proclamation of martial law in December 1981, and Solidarity's underground activity in subsequent years. Trade union confederations, in particular, stepped into the limelight: in many countries, they organized campaigns to spread information, raise funds, and provide the Polish opposition with humanitarian relief and technical assistance. Some of the Western European trade unions, however, were concerned about the surge of East-West tension in 1979-1980 and saw Solidarity as a political instrument in the larger Cold War struggle. This book analyzes reactions to Solidarity in nine Western European countries and within the international trade union confederations. The contributors show that Western solidarity with Solidarity was highly determined by its instrumental value within the national context. Trade unions openly sided with Solidarity when they had an interest in doing so, namely, when Solidarity could strengthen their own program or position. But the book also reveals that assistance from numerous other unions, despite being low-key, was massive, pragmatic, and humanitarian, rather than vocal, emotional, and political. Book jacket 1 Introduction: Solidarity, Ideology, Instrumentality and Other Issues 2 Sweden: Focus on Fundamental Trade Union Rights 3 Spain: The Common Experience of Transition and a Military Coup 4 Italy: Diversity within United Solidarity 5 The ICFTU and the WCL: The International Coordination of Solidarity 6 Great Britain: Between Avoiding Cold War and Supporting Free Trade Unionism 7 The FRG: Humanitarian Support without Big Publicity 8 France: Exceptional Solidarity? 9 Denmark: International Solidarity and Trade Union Multilateralism 10 Belgium: the Christian Emphasis 11 Austria: an Ambivalent Attitude of Trade Unions and Political Parties 12 Abbreviations 13 About the Authors 14 Index The Polish crisis in the early 1980's provoked a great deal of reaction in the West. Not only governments, but social movements were also touched by the changes. This book analyzes Western European social reaction to the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarnosc, Revealing how many unionists hesitated between détente and workers' rights, between Atlantic cold warriors and European cooperation. It provides new insights relevant to historians dealing with the Cold War, Labor, and European integration. The Polish crisis in the early 1980s provoked a great deal of reaction in the West. Not only governments, but social movements were also touched by the changes. This book analyzes Western European social reaction to the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarnosc, Revealing how many unionists hesitated between dZtente and workers' rights, between Atlantic cold warriors and European cooperation. It provides new insights relevant to historians dealing with the Cold War, Labor, and European integration